Kent reviews the intriguing concept of “mental gravity.” As Kent reports “The theory of mental gravity posits that phenomenological, cognitive, and affective [emotional] states of an embodied self are structured according to the experience of physical gravity (i.e., internal gravity model). The theory draws a behavioral analogy between external (physical), internal (mental), and relational (socio-emotional) environments to argue that physical gravity serves as a mental template to express socio-emotional aspects of the self-world relationship. . . . The theory of mental gravity posits that language, thought, and experience are conceptually structured according to the experience of physical gravity.” How does all of this more specifically influence us as people: “For us bipedal humans, the tendency to stay upright therefore has intrinsic value that is present, for example, in our aesthetic preferences for vertically-aligned objects in art . . . and vertical features of geometric shapes or spaces that symbolise sacredness, dominance, and attractiveness.”
Lachlan Kent. 2024. “Mental Gravity: Modelling the Embodied Self on the Physical Environment.” Journal of Environmental Psychology, vol. 94, 102245, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102245