High & mighty: Implicit associations between space and social status

Figurative language, the built environment, and our perceptuo-motor experiences frequently associate social status with physical space. Linguistic references such as high status or climbing the corporate ladder, and built places such as the U.S. Capitol building link social and physical hierarchies...

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Main Authors: Stephanie eGagnon, Tad eBrunye, Cynthia eRobin, Caroline eMahoney, Holly A Taylor
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2011-10-01
Series:Frontiers in Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00259/full
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author Stephanie eGagnon
Tad eBrunye
Cynthia eRobin
Caroline eMahoney
Holly A Taylor
author_facet Stephanie eGagnon
Tad eBrunye
Cynthia eRobin
Caroline eMahoney
Holly A Taylor
author_sort Stephanie eGagnon
collection DOAJ
description Figurative language, the built environment, and our perceptuo-motor experiences frequently associate social status with physical space. Linguistic references such as high status or climbing the corporate ladder, and built places such as the U.S. Capitol building link social and physical hierarchies. In three experiments we examine the source and extent of these associations by testing whether people implicitly associate abstract social status indicators with concrete representations of spatial topography (level versus mountainous land) and relatively abstract representations of cardinal direction (south and north). Experiment 1 demonstrates speeded performance during an Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald et al., 1998) when average social status is paired with level topography and high status with mountainous topography. Experiments 2 and 3 demonstrate a similar effect but with relatively abstract representations of cardinal direction (south and north), with speeded performance when average and powerful social status are paired with south and north coordinate space, respectively. Abstract concepts of social status are perceived and understood in an inherently spatial world, resulting in powerful associations between abstract social concepts and concrete and abstract notions of physical axes. These associations may prove influential in guiding daily judgments and actions.
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spelling doaj.art-2f78b7d6ba724186b77636209d079df52022-12-21T22:49:15ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782011-10-01210.3389/fpsyg.2011.0025913152High & mighty: Implicit associations between space and social statusStephanie eGagnon0Tad eBrunye1Cynthia eRobin2Caroline eMahoney3Holly A Taylor4US Army NSRDEC & Tufts UniversityUS Army NSRDEC & Tufts UniversityNorthwestern UniversityUS Army NSRDEC & Tufts UniversityTufts UniversityFigurative language, the built environment, and our perceptuo-motor experiences frequently associate social status with physical space. Linguistic references such as high status or climbing the corporate ladder, and built places such as the U.S. Capitol building link social and physical hierarchies. In three experiments we examine the source and extent of these associations by testing whether people implicitly associate abstract social status indicators with concrete representations of spatial topography (level versus mountainous land) and relatively abstract representations of cardinal direction (south and north). Experiment 1 demonstrates speeded performance during an Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald et al., 1998) when average social status is paired with level topography and high status with mountainous topography. Experiments 2 and 3 demonstrate a similar effect but with relatively abstract representations of cardinal direction (south and north), with speeded performance when average and powerful social status are paired with south and north coordinate space, respectively. Abstract concepts of social status are perceived and understood in an inherently spatial world, resulting in powerful associations between abstract social concepts and concrete and abstract notions of physical axes. These associations may prove influential in guiding daily judgments and actions.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00259/fullspatial cognitionembodimentmetaphorsocial status
spellingShingle Stephanie eGagnon
Tad eBrunye
Cynthia eRobin
Caroline eMahoney
Holly A Taylor
High & mighty: Implicit associations between space and social status
Frontiers in Psychology
spatial cognition
embodiment
metaphor
social status
title High & mighty: Implicit associations between space and social status
title_full High & mighty: Implicit associations between space and social status
title_fullStr High & mighty: Implicit associations between space and social status
title_full_unstemmed High & mighty: Implicit associations between space and social status
title_short High & mighty: Implicit associations between space and social status
title_sort high amp mighty implicit associations between space and social status
topic spatial cognition
embodiment
metaphor
social status
url http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00259/full
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AT carolineemahoney highampmightyimplicitassociationsbetweenspaceandsocialstatus
AT hollyataylor highampmightyimplicitassociationsbetweenspaceandsocialstatus