title: The use of language to express thermal sensation suggests heat acclimatization by Indonesian people.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore whether there is evidence of heat acclimatization in the words used to express thermal sensation. A total of 458 urban Japanese and 601 Indonesians participated in a questionnaire. In addition, in a preliminary survey, 39 native English speakers in the UK participated. Our results showed that (1) for Indonesians, the closest thermal descriptor of a feeling of thermal comfort was 'cool' (75%) followed by 'slightly cool' (7%), 'slightly cold' (5%) and 'cold' (5%), while Japanese responses were distributed uniformly among descriptors 'cool', 'slightly cool', 'neither', 'slightly warm', and 'warm'; (2) the closest thermal descriptors of a feeling of discomfort for Indonesians were less affected by individual thermal susceptibility (vulnerability) than those for Japanese; (3) in the cases where 'cool' and 'slightly cold' were imagined in the mind, the descriptors were cognized as a thermal comfortable feeling by 97% and 57% of Indonesians, respectively; (4) the most frequently voted choice endorsing hot weather was 'higher than 32°C' for Indonesians and 'higher than 29°C' for Japanese respondents; for cold weather, 'lower than 15°C' for Japanese and 'lower than 20°C' for Indonesians. In summary, the descriptor 'cool' in Indonesians connotes a thermally comfortable feeling, but the inter-zone between hot and cold weather that was judged in the mind showed a upward shift when compared to that of Japanese. It is suggested that linguistic heat acclimatization exists on a cognitive level for Indonesians and is preserved in the words of thermal descriptors.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Ergonomics Laboratory, Department of Human Science, Kyushu University, 4-9-1, Shiobaru Minami-ku, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tochihara
authors.forename: Joo-Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wakabayashi
authors.forename: Titis
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wijayanto
authors.forename: Ilham
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bakri
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Parsons
mesh_terms: D000064:Acclimatization / Q000502:physiology*; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007214:Indonesia; D007564:Japan; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D012660:Semantics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013696:Temperature; D013697:Thermosensing / Q000502:physiology*; D006113:United Kingdom; D055815:Young Adult