In everyday language, abstract concepts are described in terms of concrete physical experiences (e.g., good things are “up”; the past is “behind” us). Stimuli congruent with such conceptual metaphors are processed faster than stimuli that are not. Since ease of processing enhances aesthetic pleasure, stimuli should be perceived as more pleasing when their presentation matches (rather than mismatches) the metaphorical mapping. In six experiments, speakers of English (Experiment 1-3a) and Farsi (Experiment 3b and 4) viewed valence- and time-related photos in arrangements congruent and incongruent with their metaphorical mapping. Consistent with the valence-verticality metaphor in both languages, English and Farsi speakers preferred visual arrangements that placed the happy photo above the sad photo. In contrast, participants' preferences for time-related photos were moderated by the direction of writing. English speakers, who write from left to right, preferred arrangements that placed past-themed photos to the left of modern-themed photos; this was not observed for Farsi speakers, who write from right to left as well as left to right. In sum, identical stimuli enjoy an aesthetic advantage when their spatial arrangement matches the spatial ordering implied by applicable conceptual metaphors.

在日常语言中，抽象概念是根据具体的物理体验来描述的（例如，好东西在“上升”；过去在我们“身后”）。与这些概念隐喻一致的刺激比不符合的刺激处理得更快。由于易于处理增强了审美愉悦，当它们的呈现匹配（而不是不匹配）隐喻映射时，刺激应该被感知为更令人愉悦。在六个实验中，讲英语（实验 1-3a）和波斯语（实验 3b 和 4）的人查看与价和时间相关的照片，其排列与隐喻映射一致和不一致。与两种语言中的价垂直隐喻一致，讲英语和波斯语的人更喜欢将快乐照片置于悲伤照片之上的视觉安排。相比之下，参与者的 对时间相关照片的偏好受写作方向的影响。从左到右写作的说英语的人更喜欢将过去主题的照片放在现代主题照片的左侧；波斯语使用者没有观察到这一点，他们从右到左书写，也从左到右书写。总之，当它们的空间排列与适用的概念隐喻所暗示的空间顺序相匹配时，相同的刺激就享有美学优势。