Round Shapes Are for Dating, Square Shapes Are for Business: Priming the Concept of Warmth and Competence Activates the Representation of Shapes

Research in cognitive linguistics suggests that individuals understand abstract concepts by using knowledge of the superficially dissimilar, and more concrete concepts through conceptual metaphors. Previous studies have reported round-warm and square-competent associations: such that curved shapes (e.g., rounds) increase the perception of warmth and angular shapes (e.g., squares) enhance the perception of competence in a metaphor-consistent manner. The study investigated whether manipulating abstract concepts (e.g., social judgments) influenced the processing of concrete concepts (e.g., shapes). Participants were asked to select round or square ornaments in a restaurant in a dating (warm) or a business (competent) situation. Results indicated that participants in the dating condition selected more round ornaments whereas those in the business condition selected more square ornaments, revealing that the representations of a round shape were activated in the dating condition, whereas the representations of a square shape were activated in the business situation. The theoretical implications of this finding are discussed.