1. Earth
as
"Mother"
vs.
"Bank":
The
psychological
characteris9cs
of
different
metaphors
to
describe
the
earth
Ma9as
Berre?a
(ma9as.berre?a@oberlin.edu),
Sadie
Oliver-­‐Grey
(Sadie.Oliver-­‐Grey@oberlin.edu),
Paul
H.
Thibodeau
(paul.thibodeau@oberlin.edu),
and
Cynthia
M.
Frantz
(cindy.frantz@oberlin.edu)
Metaphor
Preference
Using a sample of over 1300 M-Turk workers, we
evaluated the psychological characteristics of 17
metaphors that one could potentially use to
describe the human-earth relationship.
Scores for accuracy, thoughtfulness and novelty, as well as the
five system thinking dimensions, positively correlated to scores
for liking, suggesting that most questions were getting at the
same thing:
How much did people like the metaphor?
Metaphors
and
Systems
Thinking
Survey
Each metaphor captures
something different about humankind’s
attitude towards the planet
Each metaphor suggests
a different kind of relationship
with the planet
Systems
Thinking
Metaphors
for
the
Earth
Is the earth more like a mother or a bank?
Both metaphors capture something about
humans relationship to the planet, but they
suggest different relationships and levels of
complexity.
Do some metaphors help people think more
accurately and effectively about humankind’s
relationship to the planet?
Can they promote systems thinking?
We identified and tested several metaphors that
have particular promise because of their
widespread appeal and potential to encourage
more complex, synergistic thinking about the
human-environment relationship.
We correlated perceptions of and preferences for these metaphors
with political orientation, and belief in climate change.
Democrats had a stronger preference for mother, community,
network, child, parent, ancestor, and spaceship.
Republicans leaned more toward gift, farm, kingdom, machine,
store and bank.
Except for machine, believers of climate change gave higher
scores for all metaphors, particularly mother, ancestor and park.
score
home
mother
community
gift
investment
network
farm
child
parent
ancestor
kingdom
park
market
machine
spaceship
store
bank
Dems
Reps
score
home
mother
community
gift
investment
network
farm
child
parent
ancestor
kingdom
park
market
machine
spaceship
store
bank
Believe
Dont
Poli9cs
and
Climate
Change
Systems Thinking is a way of conceptualizing reality and making
decisions that emphasizes relationships and interdependencies.
Five dimensions, in the form of survey questions, were used to
measure how much a metaphor promoted systems thinking.
Complex: Does this metaphor make the earth seem more
complex or more simple?
Connected: Does this metaphor make you feel more or less
connected to the environment?
Impact: How much does this metaphor make you feel that
humans affect the environment?
Affected: How much does this metaphor make you feel that
humans are affected by the environment?
Dynamic: Does this metaphor make you feel as though the earth
is static and unmoving, or that it is constantly changing?
home
mother
community
gift
investment
network
farm
child
parent
ancestor
kingdom
park
market
machine
spaceship
store
bank
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
Favorite
Least
Pentagonal Representation, where each corner of the pentagon
represents a dimension of systems thinking
score
home
mother
community
gift
investment
network
farm
child
parent
ancestor
kingdom
park
market
machine
spaceship
store
bank
Dems
Reps
score
home
mother
community
gift
investment
network
farm
child
parent
ancestor
kingdom
park
market
machine
spaceship
store
bank
Believe
Dont
Rank Metaphor Score
1 home 2.30
2 mother 1.44
3 community 1.32
4 gift 0.84
5 investment 0.69
6 network 0.56
7 farm 0.36
8 child 0.26
9 parent 0.21
10 ancestor -0.05
11 kingdom -0.12
12 park -0.83
13 market -0.97
14 machine -1.37
15 spaceship -1.37
16 store -1.74
17 bank -1.92
Who participated in the study? (N = 993)
Age 33.4 (12.6)
Gender 38% male
Language 96% native English speakers
Education 89% completed at least some college
Political
Affiliation
40% Democrat; 34% Independent;
20% Republican
Ideology 42.3/100 (27.9)
Area 32% urban; 48% suburban; 19% rural
Income ~$35k
RANK Complex Connected Impact Affected Dynamic
1 Network Home Home Home Network
2 Machine Mother Child Mother Child
3 Spaceship Community Investment Community Community
15 Farm Machine Machine Store Store
16 Store Spaceship Bank Spaceship Park
17 Park Bank Spaceship Bank Bank