A Metaphor Analysis of University Students’ Perception of Dating and Marriage

This study examines how university students perceive dating and marriage through metaphorical analysis. The data were collected using a metaphor analysis questionnaire. The participants comprised 261 university students located across the country. They were asked, ‘Dating is ___________ because it is ___________.’, ‘A marriage is ___________ because it is ___________.’ Resultantly, the data have been categorized according to time as the beginning, process, and result of dating and marriage, respectively. According to the criteria of time, two perspectives on dating and marriage were categorized: the egocentric perspective and a relation-centered perspective. Additionally, similarities and differences were found in the categories. In the dating metaphors, 208 positive expressions (73.9%) were common which is significantly higher that the others. While positive expression (33.5%), neutral expression (42.8%), and negative expression (23.7%) were common in the marriage metaphors. However, the ratio between egocentric and relation-centered perspectives is different for each area because the meaning of dating and marriage in the relationship between oneself and another person changes over time. This exploration of university students’ perspectives on dating and marriage is expected to provide implications for social institutions and policy support directions for positive perceptions of dating and marriage.