Europeans. Conceptualisation and evaluation of images behind the name

Abstract

The article describes the conceptualisation and evaluation of the images behind the quasi-ethnonym Europeans, as well as comparing them with the images behind the ethnonyms Poles, Germans, and French. The description is based on the results of experimental study among Poles aged 18–25 conducted in the years 2012–2013. An open question was asked: “How would you finish the sentence: I like Europeans because they are… / I don’t like that Europeans are…”. On this basis a typology of positive and negative features evoked by these names was established. The typology led to the construction of a hierarchy of features and a comparison of the images of Europeans with those of the three European nations. The study led to the following conclusions: (1) evaluation of the images behind the name Europeans is more positive than behind the three national ethnonyms; (2) elements of the cognitive definition of the term Europeans show greater similarity with those of the ethnonym Poles than those of the ethnonym Germans and French; (3) the cognitive definition of Europeans contains a certain number of features clearly different from those attributed to the ethnonyms Poles, Germans, and French – and these features are more changeable than others.