VietTESOL International Convention 2025

Metaphor operates not merely as a rhetorical device but as a cognitive mechanism through which individuals conceptualize and interpret the world (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980). The selection and deployment of metaphors are influenced by personal experiences, cultural contexts, gender constructs, and social roles (Kövecses, 2002; Luu, 2020; Maestre, 2020). This paper investigates gender-based differences in the metaphorical conceptualization of love among university students. The analysis is based on a corpus of 100 social media posts collected from 30 students over the past year. Through content analysis of 102 identified metaphors, the study reveals that both male and female students conceptualize love in terms of physiological, psychological, and behavioral dimensions. However, notable differences emerge in the specific metaphorical domains employed. Male students tend to associate love with war, game, challenge, hunting, sexuality, and possession. In contrast, female students primarily draw on metaphors related to plant, journey, commitment, destination, illness, and motherhood. Additionally, both groups employ novel metaphorical domains such as contract, social network, commodity, technology, and investment. The findings further suggest that contemporary male reception of love have shifted away from dominance toward companionship, whereas female conceptualization emphasizes autonomy, freedom, and personal choice. The data analysis from interview indicates that their reception of love has a strong link not only to domestic cultural but also cross-cultural influences.

Keywords: Conceptual metaphor, love, gender differences