engleski

Effects of euphemism, literal language, visual images on decision making

The aim of the paper is to examine whether euphemisms, literal language and visual images affect decision making of young adults. One of the most famous Orwell’s (1946: 137) claims is that “if thought can corrupt language, language can also corrupt thought” and he was convinced that euphemisms were used to “to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable.” From the contemporary perspective of cognitive science this hypothesis seems a simplified statement - Lakoff (2007), for example, claims that on hearing a certain word people activate frames, metaphors and narratives, but neural paths change only after continuous repetition of the word, thereby making us adopt certain frames evoked by the word. On the other hand, unpleasant visual images cause certain brain reactions which activate defense motivation system (Bradley and Lang 2000) which might lead to the activation of additional frames or frame elements. In this research two groups of young adults are exposed to either a number of euphemisms describing certain criminal or immoral behaviour, or the same behaviour described using direct, literal language, after which a punishment for each of these deeds is described. Participants make decisions on whether the punishment imposition on culprits is appropriate (using a Likert scale). In a subsequent research, separate two groups of participants are first primed by disturbing images related to the given deeds and then asked to perform the same task - to decide on the appropriateness of the punishment. We hypothesise that language, figurative and literal respectively, might have a different impact on their decisions, especially when primed by disturbing images. This will make participants emotionally engaged and lead to variations in the temporary and local creation or change of “conceptual packages” (Fauconnier and Turner 2002:40), and, consequently, on understanding and further acting.

euphemism, literal language, visual images, decision making, crimes

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