Anger as "seeing red": evidence for a perceptual association.
Metaphor representation theory contends that people conceptualise their non-perceptual states (e.g., emotion concepts) in perceptual terms. The present research extends this theory to colour manipulations and discrete emotional representations. Two experiments (N = 265) examined whether a red font colour would facilitate anger conceptions, consistent with metaphors referring to anger to "seeing red". Evidence for an implicit anger-red association was robust and emotionally discrete in nature. Further, Experiment 2 examined the directionality of such associations and found that they were asymmetrical: Anger categorisations were faster when a red font colour was involved, but redness categorisations were not faster when an anger-related word was involved. Implications for multiple literatures are discussed.
Psychology Department, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108-6050, USA. Adam.Fetterman@ndsu.edu
Adam K
AK
Fetterman
Michael D
MD
Robinson
Brian P
BP
Meier
D000786:Anger; D001245:Association Learning; D003118:Color Perception; D003210:Concept Formation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance