ABSTRACT We suggest that disability is metaphorically represented in people’s minds as heaviness. In three studies we demonstrate the existence of a mental association between physical weight (light vs. heavy) and disability (non-disabled vs. disabled) as well as its bi-directional causal effects (from weight to disability and from disability to weight). In Study 1 (N = 250), participants exhibited the hypothesized association between the dimensions on both a direct and an indirect measure. Study 2 (N = 191) demonstrated that perceived weight affects the perceived severity of a disability, with the weight of a clipboard held by participants affecting perceptions of a target person’s stutter or limp. Study 3 (N = 103) testified to the reverse effect: participants who heard a monologue by someone with a pronounced (as opposed to mild) stutter perceived the clipboard they were holding as heavier and estimated its weight in grams as higher. Our findings may suggest that experiences of weight affect both estimates of the prevalence of disabilities in others and in the self as well as level of identification with the disabled. Theoretical implications are discussed as well.

中文翻译：

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“口重”与“舌重”：作为​​残疾概念隐喻的体重

摘要 我们认为，残疾在人们的脑海中被比喻为沉重。在三项研究中，我们证明了身体重量（轻与重）和残疾（非残疾与残疾）及其双向因果关系（从体重到残疾和从残疾到体重）之间存在心理关联. 在研究 1 (N = 250) 中，参与者展示了直接和间接测量维度之间的假设关联。研究 2 (N = 191) 表明，感知到的体重会影响感知到的残疾严重程度，参与者持有的剪贴板的重量会影响对目标人口吃或跛行的感知。研究 3 (N = 103) 证实了相反的效果：听到明显（而不是轻微）口吃的人的独白的参与者认为他们拿着的剪贴板更重，并估计其重量（以克为单位）更高。我们的研究结果可能表明，体重经历会影响对他人和自身残疾患病率的估计，以及对残疾人的认同程度。理论意义也进行了讨论。