Hong Bao, Zhang Lu, Sun Hongri
School of Public Administration, Nanchang University, Nanchang, China.
Front Psychol. 2019 Jun 27;10:1422. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01422. eCollection 2019.
This experimental study explored the use of the implicit relational assessment procedure (IRAP) for understanding the vertical spatial metaphor of power. In the classic IRAP procedure, we formed four sets of stimuli based on the relationship between power words (powerful and powerless words) and vertical position on a computer screen (upper or lower) that were either pro-metaphor (i.e., powerful-high, powerless-low) or anti-metaphor (i.e., powerful-low, powerless-high). Participants were then asked to judge whether the words were consistent or inconsistent with the set of instructions given to them. We found that the scores of powerful words in an above vertical space and powerless words in a below vertical space were higher than zero. Furthermore, the scores of the pro-metaphor stimuli were significantly greater than were those of the anti-metaphor stimuli. Vertical spatial position metaphor of power concepts was verified again by IRAP. These findings suggest that there is an established spatial metaphor for power, which we explain using relational frame theory. It is the first study to our knowledge to explore this metaphor using the IRAP, which overcomes the limitations of paradigms such as the implicit association test, and provides a better understanding of the mechanism of the metaphor.
本实验研究探讨了使用内隐关系评估程序（IRAP）来理解权力的垂直空间隐喻。在经典的IRAP程序中，我们根据权力词汇（强势和弱势词汇）与电脑屏幕上垂直位置（上方或下方）之间的关系形成了四组刺激，这些刺激要么是支持隐喻的（即强势-上方，弱势-下方），要么是反对隐喻的（即强势-下方，弱势-上方）。然后要求参与者判断这些词汇与给他们的指令集是否一致。我们发现，处于垂直上方空间的强势词汇和处于垂直下方空间的弱势词汇的得分高于零。此外，支持隐喻的刺激的得分显著高于反对隐喻的刺激的得分。权力概念的垂直空间位置隐喻通过IRAP再次得到验证。这些发现表明存在一种既定的权力空间隐喻，我们使用关系框架理论对此进行了解释。据我们所知，这是第一项使用IRAP探索这种隐喻的研究，它克服了诸如内隐联想测验等范式的局限性，并能更好地理解隐喻的机制。
