This study examined the semantic organization of "sonkei" (a feeling of respect) and respect-related emotion words such as "awe" and "admiration" in Japanese university students. Native Japanese university students rated the semantic similarity of 153 pairs of 18 respect-related words having been collected from synonym dictionaries. Hierarchical cluster analysis of similarity ratings revealed two main distinctions at the highest level of abstraction: "person-focus respect, emotional attitude" (sustained respect for a particular person considered to be superior) and "action-focus respect, emotional state" (temporal respect for a praiseworthy action). The former included three basic categories: (a) respect mingled with mild love; (b) idolatry (worship and adoration); and (c) respect mingled with fear (awe). The latter included two basic categories: (d) admiration and (e) respect mingled with surprise (wonder). The word "sonkei" was included in category (a). Also, multidimensional scaling revealed three dimensions of respect-related words: focus, valence, and self-oblivion. These findings suggest that for Japanese university students, respect is typically a kind of emotional attitude, but they sometimes experience respect as an emotional state ("state respect").
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.
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