The arousal-space metaphor: evidence from spatial mapping in a 3D volumetric environment

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Cognitive Science
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Spatial metaphors for emotions are common, but the roles of valence and arousal are unclear.
• Previous research often conflates valence and arousal, making it difficult to isolate their spatial effects.
• Understanding the independent spatial mapping of valence and arousal is crucial for emotion theories.

Purpose of the Study:

• To disentangle the spatial mapping of emotional valence and arousal.
• To investigate how participants position affective adjectives in a 3D virtual space.
• To determine if arousal independently predicts vertical spatial placement.

Main Methods:

• Participants placed Czech affective adjectives in a 3D virtual space.
• Stimuli were chosen to orthogonally represent valence and arousal.
• Three studies examined spontaneous placement and perceptual validation using linear mixed-effects models.

Main Results:

• Both valence and arousal independently predicted vertical placement (Y-axis).
• Positive valence and high arousal were associated with higher positions.
• Valence predicted depth placement (Z-axis), with positive adjectives closer to the body.

Conclusions:

• Arousal independently contributes to vertical spatial-affective mapping.
• Valence governs depth placement, aligning with approach-avoidance theories.
• Spatial-affective mappings are complex and influenced by distinct emotional dimensions.