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But for the bad, there would not be good: Grounding valence in brightness through shared relational structures
Lakens, Daniel Semin, Gun R. Foroni, Francesco
Lakens, Daniel
Semin, Gun R.
Foroni, Francesco
Abstract
Light and dark are used pervasively to represent positive and negative concepts. Recent studies suggest that black and white stimuli are automatically associated with negativity and positivity. However, structural factors in experimental designs, such as the shared opposition in the valence (good vs. bad) and brightness (light vs. dark) dimensions might play an important role in the valence–brightness association. In 6 experiments, we show that while black ideographs are consistently judged to represent negative words, white ideographs represent positivity only when the negativity of black is coactivated. The positivity of white emerged only when brightness and valence were manipulated within participants (but not between participants) or when the negativity of black was perceptually activated by presenting positive and white stimuli against a black (vs. gray) background. These findings add to an emerging literature on how structural overlap between dimensions creates associations and highlight the inherently contextualized construction of meaning structures.
Keywords
brightness, context effects, emergent meaning, knowledge structures, valence
Date
2012
Type
Journal article
Journal
Journal of Experimental Psychology
Book
Volume
141
Issue
3
Page Range
584-594
Article Number
ACU Department
School of Behavioural and Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Relation URI
DOI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
File Access
Controlled