Metaphorical mapping between raw–cooked food and strangeness–familiarity in Chinese culture

Previous research has demonstrated metaphorical mappings between physical coldness–warmth and social distance–closeness. Since the concepts of interpersonal warmth are frequently expressed in terms of food-related words in Chinese, the present study sought to explore whether the concept of raw–cooked food could be unconsciously and automatically mapped onto strangeness–familiarity. After rating the nutritive value of raw or cooked foods, participants were presented with morphing movies in which their acquaintances gradually transformed into strangers or strangers gradually morphed into acquaintances, and were asked to stop the movies when the combined images became predominantly target faces. The results demonstrated that unconscious and automatic metaphorical mappings between raw–cooked food and strangeness–familiarity exist. This study provides a foundation for testing whether Chinese people can think about interpersonal familiarity using mental representations of raw–cooked food and supports cognitive metaphor theory from a crosslinguistic perspective.