Teaching Inclusive Thinking through an Embodied Metaphor: A Developmental Study

The studies framed in embodied cognition that analyze the metaphor of temperature and its relationship with the feeling of inclusion or exclusion always do so in the first person. That is, they take the perspective of the protagonist who is made to feel included or excluded to see how it affects his or her body thermally. However, there are no studies in which the participants morally evaluate other protagonists who are the ones who feel the inclusion or exclusion and the temperature, projecting these feelings onto them. This paper analyzes the relationship between terms related to temperature (cold or heat) and the moral judgements made toward a person who helps and another who does not help. All this occurs in a situation in which the person making the judgement is not involved in the first person and has to put themself in the place of the other. In addition, the possible difference in these judgements is examined by comparing children in the fourth grade of primary school with those in the sixth grade. The results indicate that older children give less extreme responses, but these are more influenced by temperature when it comes to morally judging a lack of help. When the behavior is helpful, they judge it morally the same regardless of temperature. In addition, interaction between the two variables appeared. These results have implications in promoting helping in the classroom in order to promote inclusion and represent a useful and accessible resource for such promotion.