{"title":"The Embodiment of Power as Forward/Backward Movement in Chinese and English Speakers","authors":"Hui-Ling Yang, J. Nick Reid, A. Katz, Dandi Li","doi":"10.1080/10926488.2021.1907185","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In two experiments, we examined whether POWER is embodied in terms of horizontal forward and backward movement using an action compatibility task. Participants were asked to categorize power-related words (e.g., “boss”, “intern”) aseither “powerful” or “powerless” as quickly and accurately as possible. In the compatible condition, the response to indicate that the word was “powerful” involved a forward movement and the response to indicate “powerless” involved a backward movement. Under incompatible conditions, these responses were reversed (“powerful”-backward/“powerless”-forward). In both experiments, participants were faster to categorize the words when the response actions were compatible than incompatible. Furthermore, this compatibility effect was observed for both Chinese (Mandarin) speakers categorizing Chinese words and English speakers categorizing English words. These data suggest that the psychological reality of a “POWER IS MOVING FORWARD” conceptual metaphor in both language groups, which we argue is based on an extension of the “SOURCE-PATH-GOAL” schema.","PeriodicalId":46492,"journal":{"name":"Metaphor and Symbol","volume":"36 1","pages":"181 - 193"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2000,"publicationDate":"2021-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10926488.2021.1907185","citationCount":"8","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Metaphor and Symbol","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2021.1907185","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 8
Abstract
ABSTRACT In two experiments, we examined whether POWER is embodied in terms of horizontal forward and backward movement using an action compatibility task. Participants were asked to categorize power-related words (e.g., “boss”, “intern”) aseither “powerful” or “powerless” as quickly and accurately as possible. In the compatible condition, the response to indicate that the word was “powerful” involved a forward movement and the response to indicate “powerless” involved a backward movement. Under incompatible conditions, these responses were reversed (“powerful”-backward/“powerless”-forward). In both experiments, participants were faster to categorize the words when the response actions were compatible than incompatible. Furthermore, this compatibility effect was observed for both Chinese (Mandarin) speakers categorizing Chinese words and English speakers categorizing English words. These data suggest that the psychological reality of a “POWER IS MOVING FORWARD” conceptual metaphor in both language groups, which we argue is based on an extension of the “SOURCE-PATH-GOAL” schema.
期刊介绍:
Metaphor and Symbol: A Quarterly Journal is an innovative, multidisciplinary journal dedicated to the study of metaphor and other figurative devices in language (e.g., metonymy, irony) and other expressive forms (e.g., gesture and bodily actions, artworks, music, multimodal media). The journal is interested in original, empirical, and theoretical research that incorporates psychological experimental studies, linguistic and corpus linguistic studies, cross-cultural/linguistic comparisons, computational modeling, philosophical analyzes, and literary/artistic interpretations. A common theme connecting published work in the journal is the examination of the interface of figurative language and expression with cognitive, bodily, and cultural experience; hence, the journal''s international editorial board is composed of scholars and experts in the fields of psychology, linguistics, philosophy, computer science, literature, and media studies.