Abstract
Background and ObjectivesIndividuals with social anxiety have various types of deficiencies in emotional processing. Diversity of deficiencies may imply that socially anxious individuals have malfunctions in fundamental parts of emotional processing. Therefore, we hypothesized that social anxiety contributes to deficiencies in building on the metaphorical relationship between emotional experience and brightness. MethodsWe conducted a judgment task of valences of faces with manipulated clothing brightness (bright or dark). ResultsA congruency effect between the emotional valence and clothing brightness was observed in participants with low social anxiety. However, this pattern was not found in participants with high social anxiety. The results suggested that a deficiency in metaphorical associations leads to maladaptive emotional processing in individuals with social anxiety. LimitationsOur findings cannot be directly generalized to clinical populations. Such populations should be tested in the future studies. ConclusionsWe may expand Lakoff and Johnson’s (1999) conceptual metaphor theory by showing the relationships between social anxiety and malfunction in metaphorical processing. Malfunctions in metaphorical processing could lead to various types of psychological disorders which have deficiencies in emotional processing.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
