Table 1. Metaphorically framed texts with and without additional metaphorical support.

Original text, with metaphorical support	Alternative version, without additional metaphoric support
(1) Crime is a beast/virus/problem ravaging the city of Almere/Addison.	(1) Crime is a beast/virus/problem with disastrous effects on the city of Almere/Addison.
(2) Five years ago Almere/Addison was in good shape, with no obvious vulnerabilities.	(2) Five years ago Almere/Addison was secure, with no risks of decline.
(3) Unfortunately, in the past five years the city's defense systems have weakened, and the city has succumbed to crime.	(3) Unfortunately, in the past five years the city's measures to maintain security have been less successful, and crime has increased at an alarming rate.
(4) Today, there are more than 3,200/55,000 criminal incidents a year - up by more than 600/10,000 per year.	(4) Today, there are more than 3,200/55,000 criminal incidents a year - up by more than 600/10,000 per year.
(5) There is a worry that if the city does not regain its strength soon, even more serious problems may start to develop.	(5) There is a worry that if the city does not improve its policies soon, even more serious problems may start to develop.

Note. Underlined words indicate the framing manipulation. Participants were exposed to one of the two metaphors (beast, virus) or the non-metaphoric control condition (problem). Words in boldface indicate elements with or without metaphorical support. Words in italics indicate differences between Experiment 1 (Netherlands) and Experiments 2–4 (USA): We set the Dutch experiment in a Dutch city (Almere). Because this Dutch city has little less than 200,000 inhabitants, we also adjusted the crime figures to fit a city of this size. In the US experiments, we again set the text in the fictitious city of Addison and used the crime figures mentioned in the stimulus text from Thibodeau and Boroditsky [1].