ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Psychology of Language
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1628706
Is Explaining More Like Showing or More Like Building? - Agency in Metaphors of Explaining
Provisionally accepted
- University of Paderborn, Paderborn, Germany
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Explanations play a crucial role in knowledge transfer and meaning-making and are often described as a co-constructive process in which multiple agents collaboratively shape understanding. However, the metaphors used to conceptualize explaining may influence how this process is framed. This study investigates the extent to which the co-constructive nature of explaining is represented in explaining metaphors. Using a systematic analysis of agency, we examined how these metaphors depict the explanation process and the roles of the agents involved. We established that explaining metaphors lack collaboration between explainer and addressee, constructiveness of the process, as well as bidirectionality and iterativeness. In light of current research on metaphorical framing, the study thus highlights the risk that such explaining metaphors may reinforce a non-co-constructive perspective on explaining and a top-down approach in the development of AI systems as well as other areas.
Keywords: Explaining1, Conceptual Metaphor Theory2, Metaphor3, Co-Construction4, agency5
Received: 14 May 2025; Accepted: 12 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Porwol and Scharlau. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Philip Porwol, philip.porwol@uni-paderborn.de
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