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Crego, Antonio, José Ramón Yela, Rita Ozores-Pérez, Pablo Riesco-Matías, y María Ángeles Gómez-Martínez. «Eudaimonic and Uncertainty Metaphors About Life are Associated with Meaningfulness, Experiential Avoidance, Mental Health and Happiness». Journal of Happiness Studies 23, n.º 8 (2022): 4119-46. https://doi.org/10.1007/S10902-022-00594-3.
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Metaphors are frequently used in psychological interventions, as they are assumed to
have effects on cognition and behavior. However, empirical research on this subject is still
scarce. This research aims to identify possible types of metaphors that people use to under-
stand life and to analyze the relationships between life metaphors, meaningfulness, experi-
ential avoidance, happiness and mental health. A total of 1536 individuals from Spain and
Latin America responded to a survey on the use of life metaphors, which also collected
data on their feelings of meaning in life as well as levels of experiential avoidance, hap-
piness, anxiety, depression and general mental health. In Part 1, using exploratory factor
analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, two independent types of life metaphors were
identified, i.e. eudaimonic metaphors (e.g. life is a treasure) and uncertainty metaphors
(e.g. life is a maze). Moreover, other complex metaphors referred to fiction (e.g. life is a
stage play, a dream) and confinement (e.g. life is a prison) were analyzed in relation to
eudaimonic and uncertainity dimensions. In Part 2, eudaimonic metaphors were found
associated with higher levels of happiness and meaningfulness, and lower levels of experi-
ential avoidance, anxiety, depression and mental health problems. Conversely, uncertainty
metaphors were associated with lower happiness and meaning in life, higher experiential
avoidance, and higher presence of mental health symptoms. The results are coherent with
the idea that, in clinical contexts, metaphors can be remarkable indicators of psychological
problems and also offer an interesting tool for intervention
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