抄録
This study examined the reproducibility of the hierarchical semantic structure of respect-related emotions and the prototypical meaning of sonkei (respect) in modern Japanese people. Participants, ages 20–79, rated the semantic similarity of 153 pairs of 18 respect-related words used in previously published work. Hierarchical cluster analysis (n = 515) showed almost the same semantic organization as the previous study. The highest level of abstraction consisted of “person-focus respect, emotional attitude” and “action-focus respect, emotional state.” The basic level consisted of (a) respect mingled with mild love; (b) ought-respect (respect as moral duty); (c) idolatry (worship and adoration); (d) awe mingled with fear; (e) admiration; and (f) wonder. The word sonkei was included in category (a). Additional analyses were conducted according to age. The results revealed that the basic categories seen in adults ages 60–79 differed from those in the whole sample and that sonkei was included in the category which could be considered as ought-respect. These findings suggest that the semantic organization of respect-related emotions is gradually changing under the influence of modern culture.
