Affective and cognitive appraisals of family representations in Turkish media

OpenAlex · İngilizce

This study examines how the concept of family was affectively and cognitively represented in Turkish media throughout 2025. Integrating Appraisal Theory (Martin & White, 2005) with Cognitive Appraisal Theory (Lazarus, 1991), the research explores how emotional expressions surrounding the concept of aile (Eng. family) reflect deeper cognitive evaluations such as threat, control, responsibility, social well-being, and cultural values. The dataset comprises 165 family-related items from the 2025 online archives of three widely read national newspapers (Hürriyet, Sabah, and Türkiye), selected for their broad national reach and consistent coverage rather than for ideological positioning. Each item was qualitatively analysed in terms of affective orientation and five cognitive appraisal dimensions: goal congruence, accountability, coping potential, novelty, and relevance. The findings indicate that family is constructed through a dual emotional pattern rather than through a single dominant tone. On the one hand, many news items convey fear, grief, shock, and anger, particularly in reports involving violence, loss, uncertainty, and institutional failure. These emotions are closely associated with cognitive evaluations of threat, low control, and moral disruption. On the other hand, a substantial number of items foreground positive emotions such as hope, solidarity, pride, and reassurance, especially in stories focusing on recovery, everyday family life, social support, and family-oriented public policies. These representations are grounded in appraisals of high coping potential, goal alignment, and cultural responsibility toward the family. Overall, the study demonstrates that underlying cognitive evaluations systematically shape emotions in media discourse. By showing how affective meaning is linguistically realized through appraisal patterns, the study contributes to linguistics, media studies, social psychology, cultural studies, and communication research. It offers an analytical model for examining how social concepts are constructed through language in public discourse.