Services on Demand
Journal
Article
Indicators
Cited by SciELO
Access statistics
Related links
Cited by Google
Similars in SciELO
Similars in Google
Share
Psicologia em Estudo
Print version ISSN 1413-7372On-line version ISSN 1807-0329
Abstract
MOREIRA, Eduardo Figueiredo; ARAUJO, Ludgleydson Fernandes de and PIMENTEL, Carlos Eduardo. Graduate students perception on the term environmentalist: a semantic analysis. Psicol. estud. [online]. 2007, vol.12, n.1, pp.161-169. ISSN 1807-0329. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-73722007000100019.
The objective of this study is to evaluate the semantic concepts of the term Environmentalist, according to university students. 325 university students, male and female, took part in the investigation regarding the concept. They attended different courses at university, in areas such as Human Science (49%), Technological (29%) and Biological (22%) area. Out of that total, 182 subjects (56%) were male and 143 (44%) belonged to the female sex. The average age was from 17 to 49 years old (M = 24 years old, DP = 5,73). An instrument with the stimulation-word environmentalists, and also social-demographic data, were used, so that the students could choose 10 words associated to the term. Data was analyzed by using the semantic chain technique. Most of the students, defined Environmentalists as defenders (quantitative semantic distance = 100%), whereas others defined them as activists (80%) and protectors (77%). Adjectives with negative connotation such as radical (73%), boring (61%) and utopian (61%) were also used. The comprehension about the way those social actors are perceived by society may contribute to redirect actions and strategies from the third sector, from environmentalist groups or individuals, as well as to extend or get a better public opinion on Environmentalists effectiveness.
Keywords : Environmentalists; chain of semantic meaning; social perception.