The Impact of Metaphorical Framing on the Evaluation of Judgments on an Example of Category

Abstract

The study examines framing effect of the metaphor on judgments about a category. It is also tested if the metaphor can increase objectivity of the category, that is, strengthen the effect of the categorical name. For these purposes the category of “depression” and related metaphors of “enemy” and “swamp” were chosen (these metaphors derived from the content analysis of the federal media from December 2018 till December 2019). According to the theory of conceptual metaphor, framing effect is caused by adding metaphorical statements into description of the category. It was found that the “swamp” metaphor as opposed to the “enemy” metaphor, reduced estimated guilt for a person who committed social misconduct due to depression. Both metaphors differentially reinforced the belief that “external help” is necessary to overcome depression. Namely, the “enemy” metaphor affected the assessment of judgments about the “depression” as a category, whereas the “swamp” metaphor influenced the assessment of judgments about an example – a depressive episode of a particular person. These results expand understanding of the framing effect of the metaphor by showing its dependence on the “level” of a judgment (category or example). Additionally, the study demonstrated that a metaphor combined with a categorical name can enhance the perceived “objectivity” of a category.