The Gardener and the Coach: How Metaphor Use Shapes Impression Formation

Abstract

Using the classroom context as a case study, we investigated whether a novel linguistic cue—the use of self-referential metaphors—shapes person perception in metaphor-congruent ways. Across three experiments, current and former college students (N = 1,630) read an email from a hypothetical professor that conveyed one of two common metaphors for the teacher-student relationship (coach/athletes vs. gardener/plants). They then reported their impressions of the professor, the course, and student expectations. Participants expected professors using coach metaphors to be more rigorous but less supportive than those using gardener metaphors, irrespective of the professor's gender. However, impressions evoked by the use of gardener metaphors did not significantly differ from a non-metaphorical message baseline. These findings indicate that metaphor use can shape our impressions of others independently of gender, but that some metaphors may confirm prior beliefs or expectations. These findings have significant implications for educators and person perception researchers.