The connotative meaning of socially and politically relevant concepts as an indicator of social climate - a longitudinal study in Serbia

Abstract

This paper is a comparative study composed of four studies conducted between 1997 and 2015. The authors examine the connotative meaning of politically relevant concepts in 18-19 years old students from various types of secondary schools. The connotative meaning is an additional, emotionally colored meaning of words, and this coloration originates from the social environment and the spirit of the times. Therefore, with the changes of this meaning it is possible to follow the changes of dominant social values and social climate. The sample consisted of a total of 750 students assessing the following concepts, at four time points (sub-samples at these points were balanced in terms of socio-demographic characteristics): nation, nationalism, socialism, leader, democracy, peace, left, right, present and future. Each of the concepts is examined by Ozgud's scale of semantic differential, through 12 opposing pairs of adjectives like bad - good or worthless - worthy. The results showed considerable variation in both: 12 adjective pairs on each single concept at a single point in time - giving a more subtle profile of meaning than in case of a general assessment of the concepts - and over time. The variations over the years give indications of a change in social climate and values, at least in the generation of young people, in these turbulent two decades in Serbia.