Gender- and Role-Specific Differences in the Perception of the Concept «Impishness» (based on the results of a psycholinguistic experiment) Поло-ролевые различия в восприятии концепта «шаловливость» (по результатам психолингвистического эксперимента)

The present paper continues a series of articles devoted to ludic competence and the description of its components with the help of psycholinguistic tools and methods. The present article explores another component of ludic competence, i.e. impishness, and the corresponding cultural concept “impishness”. 
An attempt has been made to single out gender- and role-specific differences in the perception of the verbalized concept “impishness” in the linguistic world-image of the Russian-speaking population of Eastern Ukraine. Psycholinguistic experiment was the main method of research. The sample comprised 400 older adults (aged 30 – 60), male and female respondents being equally represented.  
Having analyzed the data from the free association experiment with the stimulus “impishness”, it was revealed that everyday consciousness of common representatives of the Ukrainian linguistic culture reflects all the conceptual meanings that are related to impishness in the intercultural domain. 
The core of the verbalized concept impishness is represented by four semantic clusters (more than 10%): “horseplay”, “play”, “children”, “flirting”. 
The semantic scope of the concept depends on the gender of the respondents. Thus, for female respondents, the main constituent elements of the concept impishness are children (subject of pranks), as well as foolery and frolicking as manifestations of playful behavior that finds expression in frolic pranks, practical jokes, funny tricks, etc. Male respondents, on the other hand, tend to associate impishness primarily with woman, as well as with immorality, flippant behavior, and various forms of daring, provocative, and imprudent behavior. 
Therefore, the ambivalent character of the concept “impishness” reveals itself in certain gender- and role-specific differences in its perception. It reveals itself most vividly in behavioral associates and associates that describe various forms of pranks. 
On the whole, the stimulus “impishness” is generally evaluated as something both positive and negative by all the respondents.11.25% of the respondents display negative attitude to the stimulus “impishness”.

The components of playfulness as an integral personality trait are also the components of ludic competence. These are defi ned as «motivated abilities» (Raven, 2001), that help individuals to achieve personally meaningful goals. In this case, the goal is to develop individual identity to the extent which ensures successful socialization, i.e. successful psychological functioning (Gordienko-Mytrofanova & Kobzieva, 2017).
Ludic positions are manifestations of ludic competence in various standard and nonstandard situations, i.e. the behavioral aspect. Thus, mastering ludic positions involves mastering particular behavioral patterns.
Impishness, which is another component of ludic competence, is the subject of the present article.
Scholars who do their research in playfulness also tend to associate playfulness and impishness, which was refl ected, among other things, in the questionnaire Older Adult Playfulness Scale developed by Careen Yarnal and Xinyi Qian (Yarnal & Qian, 2011). The conducted factor analysis enabled us to single out the following factors: upbeat, impish, spontaneous, humorous. The factor «impish» includes the following qualities: mischievous, naughty, whimsical, clowning, teasing.
Following A. Fomintseva, in our ludic competence coaching we defi ne impishness as the ability of a person to deliberately create «self-challenging» situations while interacting with the subject/object of a prank with the aim 1) to experience intense positive emotions, to have an emotional outlet and give vent to aggression; 2) to watch the reaction displayed by the subject of the prank; 3) to explore the forbidden subjects; 4) to express creativity (Fomintseva, 2001).
On the basis of the ontogenetic approach, A. Fomintseva considered the evolution of impish behavior and self-challenging in childhood, youth, and early adulthood. The conducted empirical research enabled the scholar to outline the major components of impish behavior and describe the peculiarities of childish behavior, such as impishness and self-challenging, in the period of early adulthood (Fomintseva, 2001).
One of the objectives or our research is to describe the behavioral patterns of ludic positions that match the corresponding components of ludic competence taking into consideration the meanings that refl ect the reality of the linguistic consciousness of native speakers. To this end, we conducted a free association experiment (FAE) with stimulus words that correspond to the names of the components of ludic competence.
We are not aware of any other research works, in particular FAE with a stimulus word «impishness», accomplished on the basis of Ukrainian and English languages. However, we do know about the research performed by Russian scholars Yu.N. Karaulov, G.A. Cherkasova, N.V. Ufi mtseva, Yu.A. Sorokin, Ye.F. Tarasov (Karaulov et al., 2002a(Karaulov et al., , 2002b who present the results of FAE with «imp» as a stimulus word.
Therefore, the timeliness of this research is confi rmed in the fi rst place by the fact that the concept impishness is explored as a component of playfulness. Secondly, the everyday consciousness plays an increasingly important role in generating and transforming the meanings of cultural concepts. Besides, it is the fi rst time that the psycholinguistic experiment has been used to study the concept «impishness». The present research makes part of a series of scientifi c papers devoted to the analysis and description of concepts of culture and national linguistic world-images.
Aim and objectives of the research. As the subject of our research is a verbalized concept, it is only logical to outline its scope on the basis of linguistic components that are semantically and associatively related to this concept. The scope of these linguistic units can be defi ned with the help of the psycholinguistic experiment. The aim of the present paper is to use the method of applied psycholinguistic experiment in order to single out gender-and role-specifi c differences in the perception of the verbalized concept «impishness» in the linguistic world-image of the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine.
The results of the research will be applied later to describe the behavioral pattern of the ludic position «Imp», taking into consideration the meanings that refl ect the reality of the linguistic consciousness of native speakers, as it was mentioned above.
In accordance with the aim of the research, the following objectives were outlined: to defi ne the general and specifi c features of the verbal behavior of adult respondents in the framework of studying the verbalized concept «impishness»; to suggest general strategies and methods of distributing the obtained associates to the stimulus «impishness» among semantic groups.

Research methods
The main method of the conducted research was the psycholinguistic experiment, whose main stage was FAE with the stimulus word «impishness». As additional methods, surveys (in order to refi ne the FAE results) and questioning (in order to specify the characteristics of the sample) have been applied. As a mathematicalstatistical method of analysing the results of the research, frequency and cluster analyses were used, which allowed us to identify tendencies in the distribution of associations produced by the experimental group.
FAE with the stimulus word «impishness» was conducted in the written form. According to the instruction, the respondents were supposed to state their gender, age, education/specialization, marital status, and write down fi rst fi ve words that occurred to them and that were somehow associated with the word «impishness».
The total number of the respondents who took part in the experiments was 400 older adults (aged 30-60), males and females being equally represented. As far as the education criterion is concerned, 5.75% of them had not fully completed their university education, 51.0% of the respondents had a university degree; 32.25% -vocational training, 11% -secondary education. As far as the marital status is concerned, 76.75% of the respondents are offi cially married, 1.75% of the respondents cohabit with a partner without being offi cially married, 21.5% are single, and 2.75% are widows.

Building associative fi elds for fi ve reactions and for the fi rst reaction.
The results of the frequency analysis of FAE with the stimulus word «impishness» enabled us to build the associative fi eld for the fi rst reaction.
The processed results of the free association experiment with the stimulus word «impishness» yielded 400 associations. 152 reactions out of these were unique reactions, including 14 word combinations, 69 reactions with the frequency higher than 1, 83 singular reactions, and 0 refusals.

Partial semic interpretation of the results of the frequency analysis of FAE with the stimulus word «impishness» according to the fi rst reaction.
Afterwards, we conducted partial semic interpretation of the results of the frequency analysis within the framework of free association experiment with the stimulus word «impishness» according to the fi rst reaction. Partial semic interpretation of associative reactions means uniting cognate associates that are nominations of the same semantic component expressed by words belonging to different parts of speech, including singular and plural forms. For example: to play tricks 7 [to play tricks 3, tricks 3 [tricks 2, children playing tricks 1], trickster 1]; fantasy 7 [fantasy 5, fantasies 2]. Partial semic interpretation allows us to obtain more objective data about 1) high frequency associates, 2) the number of different semes that are really present in the materials of the experiment. The analysis of the data received in the course of partial semic interpretation resulted in the change of the sequence of some high frequency associates in comparison with the reactions. However, the scope and nature of associations remained the same.
3. General and specifi c features of the verbal behavior of older adults.
Partial semic interpretation helped us to reveal the general and specifi c features of the verbal behavior of respondents belonging to the age group of older adults (see Fig. 1).
The analysis of reactions that refl ect the general features of the verbal behavior of both men and women allows us to make a conclusion about the nature of the concept impishness which appears to be ambivalent and semantically fuzzy. In the everyday consciousness of the Russian-speaking population of Eastern Ukraine impishness is associated with different forms of playing tricks -funny pranks, frolic tricks, unexpected whims, spiteful remarks, etc., a peculiar form of playful behavior between people of different gender, all these forms being connected with expressing and satisfying one's sexual desire (fl irting, coquetry, sex, allure); lack of seriousness in behavior (lightheadedness, fl ippancy, stupidity).
In order to identify the specifi c features of the verbal behavior of respondents by their gender, «male» and «female» associative fi elds for the stimulus word «impishness» were built. The reason for considering certain specifi c features to be characteristic of female or male respondents was the absence of the corresponding lexemes in the «female»/»male» associative fi elds or the signifi cant difference in the frequency of these lexemes.
As we can see here, the reaction children (subject of impishness) is the main component of the concept «impishness» for female respondents, together with foolery and frolicking as an expression of playful behavior which appears in the form of frolic pranks, practical jokes, funny tricks, etc. A small percentage of women associate impishness with gusto, which is characteristic of young age (boyhood). On the other hand, in the everyday consciousness of men impishness is primarily associated with woman, as well as with the lack of morality and loose behavior (lecherousness, whore) and all kinds of daring and reckless behavior (absurdness, fervor, dare-devilry, barminess).
These results are of extreme value for us. As we introduce «imp» as a ludic position within the framework of ludic competence coaching, it is important to know that men and women have different understanding of this concept.

The analysis of peripheral and singular reactions.
On the next stage of our research peripheral and singular reactions were analyzed. Singular reactions that only occurred in the male associative fi eld that refl ected individual meanings of the respondents are the following: court, romanticism, role, friskiness, relaxedness, con game, walk, fi ngers, monkeys, mischievousness, tenderness, innocence, music, love games, leaves, laziness, courtesan, art, cheating, mysteriousness, animal, kindness, taleteller, wine, marriage, country women, pose.
As for singular reactions that occurred solely in the female associative fi eld, these are: nonchalance, care, ruse, football, fountain, dance, sport, sun, little elephant, speed, family, lipstick, song, nasty trick, relationships, originally, unexpectedness, people, caressing, beauty, compliments, barb, goatlings, zest, days, loose morals, anxiety, lightheartedness, imprudence, impunity, artist. The analysis of reactions from the extreme periphery and the analysis of singular reactions enabled us to claim that the latter signifi cantly expand the peripheral semantic groups of impishness represented by associates that describe the outer world, associates, and they also allowed us to outline a new meaning of impishness -i.e. «a high degree of expressing one's emotionally positive attitude and affection to somebody» (kindness, care, caressing, love, tenderness).

Discussion
The analysis of the obtained associates allows us to claim that the semantic scope of the concept does not depend on the gender of the respondents.
The association fi eld that was described contains a wide range of diverse reaction that testify to the ambivalent nature of the concept impishness. This fact was also confi rmed in the research works conducted by Russian scholars Yu.N. Karaulov, G.A. Cherkasova, N.V. Ufi mtseva, Yu.A. Sorokin, Ye.F. Tarasov (Karaulov et al., 2002a, 2002b who study this concept with the help of FEA, as well as in the works of А. Fomintseva who uses a variety of methods to study impishness, including in-depth interview with prop questions, pictogram method, questionnaire for measuring the motivation of achievement, «locus of control» questionnaire (Fomintseva, 2001).
Listed below are the results of the associative fi eld for the stimulus word «imp» taken from the «Russian Dictionary of Associations» (Karaulov et al., 2002a). The number in the brackets after the word refers to the number of respondents.
Imp (105 respondents): child 7, little one, boy, urchin 6; small 5; naughty child, joyful trickster 4; hooligan 3; bolder,foolish,clown,to punish 2;plays about,nonchalance,troublemaker,brother,Vaska,a jolly fellow,adult;grumbler,fat man,wizard;dirty,children,got himself into trouble,bully,entertainer,and naughty child,Karlsson,cat,kitten,little hooligan,nymphet,my friend,insolent person,impossible,a restless person,no,he,lad,gags,prankish monkey,slouch,ran wild,slingshot,freedom, (Karaulov et al., 2002b: 955). Similarly to the direct dictionary, the fi gure after the stimulus refers to the number of appearances this word form made in the entry of the corresponding stimulus. Two fi nal fi gures with a separation character at the end of the entry in the reverse dictionary stand for the total number of appearances of the word form in the dictionary and the number of stimuli (or the entries in the direct dictionary) where this word form was registered.
Having analyzed the direct and reverse dictionaries of associations, it can claimed that the majority of common representatives of the Russian linguistic culture tend to associate impishness, which is expressed in the Russian language by means of words such as imp, impish, prank, with children and particularly with male children (boy). Reactions from the extreme periphery and singular reactions show that an adult person (adult, big) can also be an imp who is capable of adult pranks (fl irting). The interpretation of the associative fi elds also shows the ambivalent character of the stimulus word imp, which reveals itself in the respondents' contradictory attitude to someone who plays pranks and behaves in an impish way. An imp can be joyful trickster and naughty child, as well as hooligan, insolent person, son of a bitch, slouch, boor, loafer, etc. A prank can take a form of fault, gag. It can also be a manifestation of fl irting, but it can also be a dirty trick, stupidity, a nasty trick, cheating, and etc.
The results of the Russian dictionary of direct and reverse associations were also confi rmed by our own research.
Behavioral associates and associates that describe various forms of pranks create the semantic core of the concept «impishness» and testify to the contradictory attitude to impishness. The most numerous cluster «behavior» is also very contradictory in terms of its content including the following semantic subgroups: horseplay, fl irting, lightheadedness, barminess, sex, activity, love, lecherousness, ruse. The second largest cluster is «forms of pranks». The scope of pranks in the linguistic consciousness of common Russian-speaking representatives of the Ukrainian linguistic culture is rather diverse ranging from tricks, fun, practical jokes, jokes, to deceit, cheating, barbs, nasty tricks, con games, etc.
The contradictory attitude to impishness is also refl ected in the polarity of the way it is evaluated, i.e. it triggers not only «positive», but also «negative» reactions. The Russian-speaking respondents from Ukraine and the representatives of Russian linguistic culture tend to evaluate this concept in three different ways: positive, negative, and neutral. Their percentage demonstrates the predominance of positive and neutral reactions.
It should be also noted that all the constituent parts of a prank that were singled out in the empirical research of A. Fomintseva are also present in the linguistic consciousness of people from Eastern Ukraine, i.e. the manifestation of one's own capacity, positive emotional outlet, interaction with objects of pranks and studying their reactions; working with taboos and prohibitions; artistic expression; outlet for aggression (Fomintseva, 2001).
The linguistic consciousness of the Russian-speaking population of Eastern Ukraine also revealed the presence of all the components of impishness listed in the questionnaire of playfulness developed by C. Yarnal and X. Qian: mischievous, naughty, clowning, teasing (Yarnal & Qian, 2011). The results of our research also indirectly confi rmed the assumption made by the authors of the questionnaire that impishness can also refer to some «attractive» behavior, whereas being funny and humorous refer to the cognitive ability to make others laugh and entertain them.

Conclusions
The main aim of the present psycholinguistic research was to defi ne and describe the ambivalent nature of the verbalized concept «impishness» in the linguistic world-image of the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine. The results of the research are expected to facilitate further attempts to describe the behavioral pattern of the ludic position «imp» refl ecting the reality of the linguistic consciousness of common representatives of the Ukrainian linguistic culture.
As a verbalized concept is part of linguistic consciousness, free association experiment was chosen to be the main method of research.
Having analyzed the data from FAE and the results of cluster analysis, it was revealed that everyday consciousness of the common representatives of the Ukrainian linguistic culture refl ects all the conceptual meanings that are related to impishness in the intercultural domain.
The analysis of the obtained associates allows us to claim that the semantic scope of the concept does not depend on the gender of the respondents. Thus, for female respondents, the main constituent elements of the concept impishness are children (subject of pranks), as well as foolery and frolicking as manifestations of playful behavior that fi nds expression in frolic pranks, practical jokes, funny tricks, etc. Male respondents, on the other hand, tend to associate impishness primarily with woman, as well as with immoraility, fl ippant behavior, and various forms of daring, provocative, and imprudent behavior.
Therefore, the ambivalent character of the concept «impishness» also reveals itself in certain gender-related differences in its perception.
The respondents' contradictory attitude to impishness is also refl ected in the polarity of ways it is evaluated as it triggers not only «positive», but also «negative» reactions. On the whole, the stimulus «impishness» is generally evaluated as something positive by the respondents.
As far as the prospect of further research is concerned, it appears worthwhile to describe the behavioral pattern of the ludic position «Imp» considering both core and peripheral psycholinguistic meanings of impishness, as well as gender-and role-specifi c differences among the respondents.