Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

Iconicity has been widely studied in relation to language acquisition, processing, and evolution. Recent work has emphasized the subjective nature of iconicity and the role of individual construal, yet it remains unclear when and under what conditions individual differences in iconicity perception arise. As a first step toward addressing this issue, the present study examines how personality traits (Big Five) and individual background factors relate to iconicity ratings of Japanese words. We observed substantial individual variability in iconicity ratings. Among the traits, extraversion showed a small but reliable negative association with perceived iconicity, such that lower extraversion was associated with higher iconicity ratings. In addition, self-reported ideophone use emerged as a consistent positive correlate of iconicity ratings, whereas no other background factors showed reliable independent associations. These findings suggest that iconicity is not merely an intrinsic property of linguistic forms, but a perceptual phenomenon that varies across individuals. At the same time, the results indicate that such variability is not systematically structured by broad background factors, suggesting a selective role for specific forms of linguistic experience. Overall, the study highlights the importance of considering who rates words as more or less iconic, and under what experiential conditions, in theoretical accounts of iconicity in language.