Actualization of the MIGRANT concept in the minds of native Russian speakers

The paper aims to reveal spontaneous associative connections that arise in the minds of people to verbalize the concept MIGRANT. The material was comprised by 432 reactions to the stimulus-word migrant obtained from 200 Russian citizens during a free associative experiment in 2024. As a result, a number of macro- and micro fields were identified to show that the image of a migrant is characterized by a combination of both negative and neutral or even positive associates. Positive associations emerge to express empathy. The dominance of nominations with neutral connotations indicates that descriptive definitions are a primary strategy in representing the MIGRANT concept. It is due to the respondents’ desire to be objective and to avoid value judgments. On the whole, the obtained results enable to conclude that the Russian-speaking respondents display neutral-negative attitude towards migrants.