Skip to main content
Search
Search
    Quick Search anywhere
    Quick search in Citations
Advanced Search
Skip main navigationClose Drawer MenuOpen Drawer Menu
Previous article
Next article
Original Article

On the Interpersonal Function of Metaphor Use

Daily Metaphor Use Fluctuates With Empathy and Perspective Taking

Published Online:November 18, 2020https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000431

Abstract

Abstract. Empathy and perspective taking play important roles in interpersonal functioning. As prior research has linked metaphor use to emotional understanding, it is likely that metaphor use is also involved in empathy and perspective taking. In two daily diary studies (N = 225; Obs. = 1,849), we predicted that on days in which empathy and perspective taking were high, participants would also report higher metaphor use. In Study 1, we found support for our hypotheses, such that daily metaphor use was positively associated with daily empathy and perspective taking. In Study 2, we replicated these results. We place this work within the current literature and discuss the promise of an interpersonal function of metaphor use.

References

  • Abele, A. E., & Brack, S. (2013). Preference for other persons’ traits is dependent on the kind of social relationship. Social Psychology, 44, 94. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000138 First citation in articleLink, Google Scholar

  • Arriaga, X. B., & Rusbult, C. E. (1998). Standing in my partner’s shoes: Partner perspective taking and reactions to accommodative dilemmas. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 24, 927–948. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167298249002 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Baldwin, M., Landau, M. J., & Swanson, T. J. (2018). Metaphors can give life meaning. Self and Identity, 17, 163–193. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2017.1368696 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Barr, D. J., Levy, R., Scheepers, C., & Tily, H. J. (2013). Random effects structure for confirmatory hypothesis testing: Keep it maximal. Journal of Memory and Language, 68, 255–278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2012.11.001 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 497–529. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.117.3.497 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Berry, D. S., Pennebaker, J. W., Mueller, J. S., & Hiller, W. S. (1997). Linguistic bases of social perception. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 526–537. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167297235008 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Bucci, W. (1997). Psychoanalysis and cognitive science: A multiple code theory, Guilford Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Bolger, N., Davis, A., & Rafaeli, E. (2003). Diary methods: Capturing life as it is lived. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 579–616. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145030 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Ciarrochi, J., Parker, P. D., Sahdra, B. K., Kashdan, T. B., Kiuru, N., & Conigrave, J. (2017). When empathy matters: The role of sex and empathy in close friendships. Journal of Personality, 85, 494–504. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12255 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Cohen, T. (2008). Thinking of others: On the talent for metaphor, Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400828951 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Conner, T. S., Tennen, H., Fleeson, W., & Barrett, L. F. (2009). Experience sampling methods: A modern idiographic approach to personality research. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 3, 292–313. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2009.00170.x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Crawford, L. E. (2009). Conceptual metaphors of affect. Emotion Review, 1, 129–139. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073908100438 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Davis, M. H. (1980). A multidimensional approach to individual differences in empathy. JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 10, 85. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Davis, M. H. (1983). Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a multidimensional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 113–126. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.44.1.113 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Davis, M. H. (1994). Empathy: A social psychological approach, Brown and Benchmark. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Davis, M. H., & Kraus, L. A. (1997). Personality and empathic accuracy. In W. J. IckesEd., Empathic accuracy (pp. 144–168). Guilford Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Davis, M. H., & Oathout, H. A. (1987). Maintenance of satisfaction in romantic relationships: Empathy and relational competence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 397–410. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.53.2.397 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Decety, J., & Jackson, P. L. (2004). The functional architecture of human empathy. Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Reviews, 3(2), 71–100. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534582304267187 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Dodell-Feder, D., & Tamir, D. I. (2018). Fiction reading has a small positive impact on social cognition: A meta-analysis. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 147, 1713–1727. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000395 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Drew, P., & Holt, E. (1988). Complainable matters: The use of idiomatic expressions in making complaints. Social Problems, 35, 398–417. https://doi.org/10.2307/800594 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Elliott, R., Bohart, A. C., Watson, J. C., & Greenberg, L. S. (2011). Empathy. Psychotherapy, 48, 43–49. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022187 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Enders, C. K., & Tofighi, D. (2007). Centering predictor variables in cross-sectional multilevel models: A new look at an old issue. Psychological Methods, 12, 121–138. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.12.2.121 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Fainsilber, L., & Ortony, A. (1987). Metaphorical uses of language in the expression of emotions. Metaphor and Symbol, 2, 239–250. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327868ms0204_2 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Fetterman, A. K. (2016). On god-belief and feeling clean: Feelings of cleanliness are associated with feelings and behavior in daily life, particularly for those high in god belief. Social Psychology and Personality Science, 7, 552–559. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550616641474 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Fetterman, A. K., Bair, J. L., Werth, M., Landkammer, F., & Robinson, M. D. (2016). The scope and consequences of metaphoric thinking: Using individual differences in metaphor usage to understand how metaphor functions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 110, 458–476. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000067 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Fetterman, A. K., Curtis, S., Carre, J., & Sassenberg, K. (2019). On the willingness to admit wrongness: Validation of a new measure and an exploration of its correlates. Personality and Individual Differences, 138, 193–202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.10.002 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Fetterman, A. K., French, K., & Meier, B. M. (2020). Investigating individual differences in metaphor use and its outcomes: research questions, measurement, and findings, Invited chapter under review. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Fetterman, A. K., Rutjens, B. T., Landkammer, F., & Wilkowski, B. M. (2019). On post‐apocalyptic and doomsday prepping beliefs: A new measure, its correlates, and the motivation to prep. European Journal of Personality, 33, 506–525. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.2216 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Fetterman, A. K., Wilkowski, B. M., & Robinson, M. D. (2018). On feeling warm and being warm: Daily perceptions of physical warmth fluctuate with interpersonal warmth. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 9, 560–567. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550617712032 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Finkel, E. J., Eastwick, P. W., & Reis, H. T. (2015). Best research practices in psychology: Illustrating epistemological and pragmatic considerations with the case of relationship science. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 108, 275–297. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000007 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Gentner, D.Holyoak, K. J.Kokinov, B. N. (Eds.). (2001). The analogical mind: Perspectives from cognitive science, MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/1251.001.0001 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Gibbs, R. W. Jr., & Bogdonovich, J. (1999). Mental imagery in interpreting poetic metaphor. Metaphor and Symbol, 14(1), 37–44. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327868ms1401_4 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Gibbs, R. W. Jr., Gould, J. J., & Andric, M. (2006). Imagining metaphorical actions: Embodied simulations make the impossible plausible. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 25, 221–238. https://doi.org/10.2190/97MK-44MV-1UUF-T5CR First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Glucksberg, S., & Keysar, B. (1990). Understanding metaphorical comparisons: Beyond similarity. Psychological Review, 97, 3–18. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.97.1.3 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Goldstein, N. J., Vezich, I. S., & Shapiro, J. R. (2014). Perceived perspective taking: When others walk in our shoes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 106, 941–960. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0036395 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Holyoak, K. J., & Stamenković, D. (2018). Metaphor comprehension: A critical review of theories and evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 144, 641–671. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000145 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Horton, W. S. (2007). Metaphor and readers’ attributions of intimacy. Memory & Cognition, 35, 87–94. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03195945 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Jia, L., & Smith, E. R. (2013). Distance makes the metaphor grow stronger: A psychological distance model of metaphor use. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49, 492–497. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2013.01.009 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Johnson, M. (1994). Moral imagination: Implications of cognitive science for ethics, University of Chicago Press. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226223230.001.0001 First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Johnson, D. R., Cushman, G. K., Borden, L. A., & McCune, M. S. (2013). Potentiating empathic growth: Generating imagery while reading fiction increases empathy and prosocial behavior. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 7, 306–312. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033261 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Keefer, L. A., Landau, M. J., Sullivan, D., & Rothschild, Z. K. (2011). Exploring metaphor’s epistemic function: Uncertainty moderates metaphor-consistent priming effects on social perceptions. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 657–660. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2011.02.002 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Knee, C. R., Hadden, B. W., Porter, B., & Rodriguez, L. M. (2013). Self-determination theory and romantic relationship processes. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 17, 307–324. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868313498000 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Kövecses, Z. (2003). Metaphor and emotion: Language, culture, and body in human feeling, Cambridge University Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Kövecses, Z. (2010). Metaphor: A practical introduction (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Kross, E., & Ayduk, O. (2011). Making meaning out of negative experiences by self-distancing. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20, 187–191. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721411408883 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Krishnakumar, S., Hopkins, K., Szmerekovsky, J. G., & Robinson, M. D. (2016). Assessing workplace emotional intelligence: Development and validation of an ability-based measure. The Journal of Psychology, 150, 371–404. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2015.1057096 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by, University of Chicago Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Landau, M. J. (2017). Conceptual metaphor in social psychology: The poetics of everyday life, Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315312019 First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Landau, M. J., Meier, B. P., & Keefer, L. A. (2010). A metaphor-enriched social cognition. Psychological Bulletin, 136, 1045–1067. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020970 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Lenton, A. P., Slabu, L., & Sedikides, C. (2016). State authenticity in everyday life. European Journal of Personality, 30, 64–82. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.2033 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • MacCann, C., & Roberts, R. D. (2008). New paradigms for assessing emotional intelligence: Theory and data. Emotion, 8, 540–551. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0012746 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Mehl, M. R., Pennebaker, J. W., Crow, D. M., Dabbs, J., & Price, J. H. (2001). The Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR): A device for sampling naturalistic daily activities and conversations. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 33, 517–523. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03195410 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Meier, B. P., & Robinson, M. D. (2005). The metaphorical representation of affect. Metaphor and Symbol, 20, 239–257. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327868ms2004_1 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Mikulincer, M., Gillath, O., Halevy, V., Avihou, N., Avidan, S., & Eshkoli, N. (2001). Attachment theory and reactions to others’ needs: Evidence that activation of the sense of attachment security promotes empathic responses. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 1205–1224. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.81.6.1205 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Murray, S. L., Holmes, J. G., Griffin, D. W., & Derrick, J. L. (2015). The equilibrium model of relationship maintenance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 108, 93–113. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000004 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Oosterhof, N. N., & Todorov, A. (2008). The functional basis of face evaluation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105, 11087–11092. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0805664105 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Ortony, A. (1975). Why metaphors are necessary and not just nice. Educational theory, 25, 45–53. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-5446.1975.tb00666.x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Ortony, A., Clore, G. L., & Collins, A. (1990). The cognitive structure of emotions, Cambridge University Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Ortony, A., Reynolds, R. E., & Arter, J. A. (1978). Metaphor: Theoretical and empirical research. Psychological Bulletin, 85, 919–943. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.85.5.919 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Papp, P. (1982). Staging reciprocal metaphors in a couples group. Family Process, 21, 453–467. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1545-5300.1982.00453.x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Péloquin, K., Lafontaine, M. F., & Brassard, A. (2011). A dyadic approach to the study of romantic attachment, dyadic empathy, and psychological partner aggression. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 28, 915–942. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407510397988 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Pinheiro, J., Bates, D., DebRoy, S., Sarkar, D., & R Core Team. (2020). nlme: Linear and nonlinear mixed effects models (R package version 3.1-148) https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=nlme First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Pollmann, M. M., & Finkenauer, C. (2009). Empathic forecasting: How do we predict other people’s feelings? Cognition and Emotion, 23, 978–1001. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930802264895 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Raudenbush, S. W., & Bryk, A. S. (2002). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods (Vol. 1, Sage. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Richard, F. D., Bond, C. F. Jr., & Stokes-Zoota, J. J. (2003). One hundred years of social psychology quantitatively described. Review of General Psychology, 7, 331–363. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.7.4.331 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Schutte, N. S., Malouff, J. M., Bobik, C., Conston, T., Greeson, C., & Jedlicka, C. (2001). Emotional intelligence and interpersonal relations. Journal of Social Psychology, 141, 523–536. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224540109600569 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Shrout, P. E., Stadler, G., Lane, S. P., McClure, M. J., Jackson, G. L., Clavél, F. D., lida, M., Gleason, M. E. J., Xu, J. H., & Bolger, N. (2018). Initial elevation bias in subjective reports. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115, E15–E23. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1712277115 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Spreng, R. N., McKinnon, M. C., Mar, R. A., & Levine, B. (2009). The Toronto Empathy Questionnaire: Scale development and initial validation of a factor-analytic solution to multiple empathy measures. Journal of Personality Assessment, 91, 62–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223890802484381 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Trope, Y., & Liberman, N. (2010). Construal-level theory of psychological distance. Psychological Review, 117, 440–463. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018963 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Zaki, J., Bolger, N., & Ochsner, K. (2008). It takes two: The interpersonal nature of empathic accuracy. Psychological Science, 19, 399–404. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02099.x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar