Emergent Meaning in Affective Space: Conceptual and Spatial Congruence Produces Positive Evaluations

Based on the theory of conceptual metaphor we investigated the evaluative consequences of a match (or mismatch) of different conceptual relations (good vs. bad; abstract vs. concrete) with their corresponding spatial relation (UP vs. DOWN). Good and bad words that were either abstract or concrete were presented in an up or down spatial location. Words for which the conceptual dimensions matched the spatial dimension were evaluated most favorably. When neither of the two conceptual dimensions matched the spatial dimension, ratings were not as favorable as when the dimensions did match, but were still significantly more favorable than when one conceptual category was matched with the spatial category (e.g., UP and abstract), while the other one was not (e.g., UP and bad). Results suggest that a metacognitive feeling of fluency can produce an additional layer of evaluative information that is independent of actual stimulus valence.