When do Metaphorical Frames Exhibit Psycholinguistic Effects? The Case of the Ego-Moving and Time-Moving Metaphor in Climate Change

In this paper we discuss the framing effects of the ego- vs. time-moving metaphor in relation to climate change. Previous studies have found that time-moving metaphors (e.g., climate disaster is approaching us) led participants to assess the urgency and perceived risk of climate change as higher than ego-moving metaphors (e.g., we are approaching climate disaster). Our results did not show the framing effect of metaphor, but observed individual differences in participants’ political orientation. We discuss factors that may influence framing and argue for a non-reductionist perspective of discourse or experimental studies.