Embodied Cognition and the Construction of Attitudes

The body figures prominently in common language definitions of the term attitude. The Oxford Dictionary (n.d.) refers to “a position of the body indicating a particular mental state (‘the boy was standing in an attitude of despair’)” and Merriam-Webster (n.d.) refers to “the arrangement of the parts of a body” or “a position assumed for a specific purpose (‘a threatening attitude’).” This understanding is consistent with the use of the term by...