Positive, Neutral, and Negative Connotations Associated with Social Representation of 'Hearing Loss' and 'Hearing Aids'

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES In our previous studies we explored the social representation of hearing loss and hearing aids. In this study we aimed at exploring if the positive, neutral and negative connotations associated with the social representation of 'hearing loss' and 'hearing aids' for the same categories vary across countries. In addition, we also looked at if there is an association between connotations and demographic variables. SUBJECTS AND METHODS A total of 404 individuals from four countries were asked to indicate the words and phrases that comes to mind when they think about 'hearing loss' and 'hearing aids'. They also indicated if the words and phrases they reported had positive, neutral or negative association, which were analyzed and reported in this paper. RESULTS There are considerable differences among the countries in terms of positive, neutral and negative associations report for each category in relation to hearing loss and hearing aids. However, there is limited connection between demographic variables and connotations reported in different countries. CONCLUSIONS These results suggesting that the social representation about the phenomenon hearing loss and hearing aids are relatively stable within respondents of each country.