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Related Experiment Videos

Why the sunny side is up: association between affect and vertical position.

Brian P Meier1, Michael D Robinson

  • 1Department of Psychology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58105, USA. brian.p.meier@ndsu.nodak.edu

Psychological Science
|March 27, 2004
PubMed
Summary

Spatial location influences emotional evaluations. Positive words are evaluated faster when presented higher, while negative words are faster when presented lower, indicating affect has a physical basis.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Affective Science
  • Embodied Cognition

Background:

  • Common language uses spatial metaphors for emotions (e.g., feeling up or down).
  • These spatial-affective links may subtly influence human judgment and evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the influence of vertical spatial location on the evaluation of positive and negative words.
  • To determine if affect activates spatial representations or if spatial locations activate affect.

Main Methods:

  • Three studies were conducted where participants evaluated words presented in different vertical positions on a computer screen.
  • Reaction times and spatial activation patterns were measured during word evaluation tasks.

Main Results:

Related Experiment Videos

  • Positive words were evaluated faster in upper visual space, negative words faster in lower visual space (Study 1).
  • Positive evaluations correlated with activation in higher visual areas, negative evaluations with lower visual areas (Study 2).
  • Evaluations activated spatial areas, but spatial positions did not activate evaluations (Study 3).

Conclusions:

  • Affective evaluations are influenced by vertical spatial positioning.
  • The findings suggest that affect has a physical basis, with emotional states mapping onto vertical space.