Summary: | The project deals theoretically and empirically with a mechanism the metaphor of four elements works used by personality description. It is based on the theory of conceptual metaphor, on the categorization and the theory of prototypes and on the theory of folk models. Empirically it is devoted to these research goals: 1. To find out what meaning are the strongest atributed to each element and to map systematically their semantic space. 2. To contribute to the operationalization of the elements, to deepen the conceptual and content validity of the test Four Elements and to support significantly the theoretical-empirical base of the four elements as a metaphor of personality description in psychology. 3. To find out relations between the concept of elements and other personality conceptions represented by standardized personality tests. A semantic diferential, a list of personality descriptors (adjectives) and personality tests (Four Elements, MBTI, EPQ-R, NEO) were used for data collection. The results shows significant consensus among meanings atributed to each element, esp. in case of fire and earth, and significant relations among dimensions of the personality tests.
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