ScholarWorks@동국대학교

초록

A survey was conducted in this study to investigate Korean college students’ personal thoughts using free association words related to China and Japan. The purpose of this study is to facilitate social communication through the analysis of university students’ perceptions by utilizing statistics on the frequency of free association words. The study participants were college students in the capital areas, and the survey method consisted of having them write down words that came to mind using free association. The results of the comparative analysis of the free association words for China and Japan were as follows. The most common free association words for China and Japan were: red for China and sushi for Japan. Japan had representative foods associated with it, while China had the color red. This is related to the cultural characteristics that China has regarding color. The common main components that made up the free association words for China and Japan included the countries’ leaders, main cities, food, etc. Each country’s free association words had different category ranges that came to the students’ minds depending on the political and social relations. The number of words included in that scope differed as well. China had many words with meanings such as “large”, “broad”, “many” etc. Japan had many words representing its historical relation with Korea and territorial disputes, etc. The results of the free association provide insights into Korean college students’ personal perspectives as well as their thoughts on society and international relations.

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