ambiguity and ambivalence in A'ara personality descriptors

Abstract

The conceptual organization of personality descriptors in the A'ara language of Santa Isabel, Solomon Islands, is represented in a combined dimensional and hierarchical model. The model reflects both universal dimensions and cultural ideals described for other Melanesian societies. Variation in descriptor meanings is examined through measurement of ambiguity in terms of a hierarchical structure and through semantic shifts in social context. Shifts in the evaluative significance (“ambivalence”) of trait descriptors show that traits of “dominance” become more positive when attributed to leader statuses. This finding depicts cultural processes associated with problems of political legitimacy discussed by ethnographers elsewhere in Melanesia.