Investigating Conceptual Metaphors for Covid-19 on Social Media
Location
Science Center Perlik Commons
Document Type
Poster
Start Date
5-13-2022 12:00 PM
End Date
5-13-2022 2:00 PM
Abstract
Conceptual metaphors are prevalent in everyday language as a way to make sense of the world around us. The objective of these studies is to improve understanding of how people interpret common conceptual metaphors for Covid-19. These studies are relevant to research on the relationship between language and cognition. The first study had 240 participants fill out a brief online survey where they were asked to rate and describe the effectiveness of different metaphors as descriptors for Covid-19. The second study presented 80 participants with tweets and had them judge whether they believed the tweets were written by a medical expert, politician or reporter. In both studies, participants answered multiple choice questions about their attitudes to Covid-19 safety protocols and their basic background information. Both studies revealed interesting differences in how people interpret and discuss metaphors describing Covid-19 depending on demographic information and self-identified political ideology.
Keywords:
Metaphor, Covid-19, Cognitive psychology, Politics
Recommended Citation
Badrinath, Olivia K. and D Dio, Alaina M., "Investigating Conceptual Metaphors for Covid-19 on Social Media" (2022). Research Symposium. 7.
https://digitalcommons.oberlin.edu/researchsymp/2022/posters/7
Project Mentor(s)
Paul Thibodeau, Psychology
2022
Investigating Conceptual Metaphors for Covid-19 on Social Media
Science Center Perlik Commons
Conceptual metaphors are prevalent in everyday language as a way to make sense of the world around us. The objective of these studies is to improve understanding of how people interpret common conceptual metaphors for Covid-19. These studies are relevant to research on the relationship between language and cognition. The first study had 240 participants fill out a brief online survey where they were asked to rate and describe the effectiveness of different metaphors as descriptors for Covid-19. The second study presented 80 participants with tweets and had them judge whether they believed the tweets were written by a medical expert, politician or reporter. In both studies, participants answered multiple choice questions about their attitudes to Covid-19 safety protocols and their basic background information. Both studies revealed interesting differences in how people interpret and discuss metaphors describing Covid-19 depending on demographic information and self-identified political ideology.
