Have a personal or library account? Click to login
The Conceptual Metaphor Parents are Machines/Tools: On Machines/Tools-Related Terms Used Figuratively for Types of Parenting Cover

The Conceptual Metaphor Parents are Machines/Tools: On Machines/Tools-Related Terms Used Figuratively for Types of Parenting

Open Access
|Feb 2026

References

  1. Adler, Alfred. 2001 [1931]. The pattern of life. Routledge.
  2. Al-Azary, Hamad, Christina L. Gagné & Thomas L. Spalding. 2020. From the sea to the sky: Metaphorically mapping water to air. Metaphor and Symbol 35(3). 206–219. DOI: 10.1080/10926488.2020.1804809
  3. Arora, Monika. 2014. The impact of authoritative & neglectful parenting style on educational performance of learners at high school level. International Journals of Multidisciplinary Research 3(6). 44-57.
  4. Barcelona, Antonio. 2003. Metaphor and metonymy at the crossroads: A cognitive perspective. Mouton de Gruyter.
  5. Baumrind, Diana. 1967. Child care practices anteceding three patterns of preschool behavior. Genetic Psychology Monographs 75(1). 43–88.
  6. Baumrind, Diana. 1991. The influence of parenting style on adolescent competence and substance use. The Journal of Early Adolescence 11(1). 56–95. DOI: 10.1177/0272431691111004
  7. Baumrind, Diana. 2012. Differentiating between confrontive and coercive kinds of parental power-assertive disciplinary practices. Human Development 55(2). 35–51. DOI: 10.1159/000337962
  8. Bradley-Geist, Jill C. & Julie B. Olson-Buchanan. 2014. Helicopter parents: An examination of the correlates of over-parenting of college students. Education and Training 56. 314–328. DOI: 10.1108/ET-10-2012-0096
  9. Cline, Foster & Jim Fay. 2006 [1990]. Parenting with love and logic (Updated and expanded edition). NavPress.
  10. Costello, Kimberly. 2012. Determinants and consequences of dehumanization: An interspecies model of prejudice. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Department of Psychology, Brock University. Ontario, Canada.
  11. Costello, Kimberly & Gordon Hodson. 2014. Explaining dehumanization among children: The interspecies model of prejudice. The British Journal of Social Psychology 53(1). 175–197. DOI: 10.1111/bjso.12016
  12. Darlow, Veronica, Jill M. Norvilitis & Pamela Schuetze. 2017. The relationship between helicopter parenting and adjustment to college. Journal of Child and Family Studies 26. 2291–2298. DOI: 10.1007/s10826-017-0751-3
  13. Gibbs, Raymond W. 2017. Metaphor wars. Conceptual metaphors in human life. Cambridge University Press.
  14. Ginott, Haim. 1969. Between parent and teenager. Scribner.
  15. Goatly, Andrew. 2008. Washing the brain. Metaphor and hidden ideology. John Benjamins.
  16. Grady, Joseph. 1997. “THEORIES ARE BUILDINGS revisited”. Cognitive Linguistics 8. 267–290. DOI: 10.1515/cogl.1997.8.4.267
  17. Grząśko, Agnieszka & Robert Kiełtyka. 2021. Verbal duel and flirtation from a cognitive perspective: A case study of film noir “The Big Sleep” (1946). Lege Artis. Language Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow 5(1). 2–39.
  18. Harris, Lasana T. & Susan T. Fiske. 2007. Social groups that elicit disgust are differentially processed in mPFC. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 2(1). 45–51. DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsl037
  19. Haslam, Nick. 2006. Dehumanization: An integrative review. Personality and Social Psychology Review 10(3). 252–264. DOI: 10.1207/s15327957pspr1003_4
  20. Higley, Dena. 2012. Momaholic: Confessions of a helicopter parent. Thomas Nelson.
  21. Higley, Dena & Julie Lythcott-Haims. 2015. How to raise an adult: Break free of the overparenting trap and prepare your kid for success. Henry Holt and Co.
  22. Hong, Jon-Chao, Ming-Yueh Hwang, Yen-Chun Kuo & Wei-Yeh Hsu. 2015. Parental monitoring and helicopter parenting relevant to vocational students’ procrastination and self-regulated learning. Learning and Individual Differences 42(4). 139–146. DOI: 10.1016/j.lindif.2015.08.003
  23. Johnson, Mark. 1987. The body in the mind. The University of Chicago Press.
  24. Kiełtyka, Robert & Agnieszka Grząśko A. 2024. The conceptual metaphor PARENTS ARE ANIMALS: On linguistic terms used figuratively for types of parenting. Atlantis. Journal of the Spanish Association of Anglo-American Studies 46(1). 171–194. DOI: 10.28914/Atlantis-2024-46.1.10.
  25. Kövecses, Zoltán. 2000. The scope of metaphor. In Antonio Barcelona (ed.), Metaphor and metonymy at the crossroads. A cognitive perspective, Mouton de Gruyter. 79–92.
  26. Kövecses, Zoltán. 2002. Metaphor. A practical introduction. Oxford University Press.
  27. Kövecses, Zoltán. 2005. Metaphor in culture. Universality and variation. Cambridge University Press.
  28. Kövecses, Zoltán. 2010. A new look at metaphorical creativity in cognitive linguistics. Cognitive Linguistics 21(4). 663–697. DOI: 10.1515/cogl.2010.021
  29. Kövecses, Zoltán. 2015. Where metaphors come from. Reconsidering context in metaphor. Oxford University Press.
  30. Kövecses, Zoltán. 2017a. Levels of metaphor. Cognitive Linguistics 28(2). 321–347. DOI: 10.1515/cog-2016-0052
  31. Kövecses, Zoltán. 2017b. Conceptual metaphor theory. In Elena Semino & Zsófia Demjén (eds.), Routledge handbook of metaphor, Routledge. 13–27.
  32. Krzeszowski, Tomasz P. 1997. Angels and devils in hell: Elements of axiology in semantics. Energeia.
  33. Kudła, Marcin. 2016. A study of attributive ethnonyms in the history of English with special reference to foodsemy. Peter Lang.
  34. Kyong-Ah, Kwon, Yoo Gyesook & Gary E. Bingham. 2016. Helicopter parenting in emerging adulthood: Support or barrier for Korean college students’ psychological adjustment? Journal of Child and Family Studies 25. 136–145. DOI: 10.1007/s10826-015-0195-6
  35. Lakoff, George. 1987. Women, fire, and dangerous things. The University of Chicago Press.
  36. Lakoff, George. 1993. The contemporary theory of metaphor. In Andrew Ortony (ed.), Metaphor and thought, (2nd edn.) Cambridge University Press. 202–251.
  37. Lakoff, George. 2008. The neural theory of metaphor. In Raymond W. Gibbs (ed.), The Cambridge handbook of metaphor and thought, Cambridge University Press. 17–38. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511816802.003
  38. Lakoff, George & Mark Johnson. 1980. Metaphors we live by. The University of Chicago Press. Lakoff, George & Mark Johnson. 1999. Philosophy in the flesh. Basic Books.
  39. Lakoff, George & Mark Turner. 1989. More than cool reason. A field guide to poetic metaphor. The University of Chicago Press.
  40. LeMoyne, Terri & Tom Buchanan. 2011. Does “hovering” matter? Helicopter parenting and its effect on well-being. Sociological Spectrum 31(4). 399–418. DOI: 10.1080/02732173.2011.574038
  41. Low, Graham, Zazie Todd, Alice Deignan & Lynne Cameron (eds.). 2010. Researching and applying metaphor in the real world. John Benjamins.
  42. Lythcott-Haims, Julie. 2015a. How to raise an adult. Henry Holt and Company.
  43. Maccoby, Eleanor & John A. Martin. 1983. Socialization in the context of the family: Parent-child interaction. In Paul H. Mussen & Eileen Mavis Hetherington (eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 4. Socialization, personality, and social development, Wiley. 1–101.
  44. Musolff, Andreas. 2012. Immigrants and parasites: The history of a bio-social metaphor. In Michi
  45. Messer, Renee Schroeder & Ruth Wodak (eds.), Migrations: Interdisciplinary perspectives, Springer. 249–258. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-7091-0950-2_22
  46. Odenweller, Kelly G., Melanie Booth-Butterfield & Keith Weber. 2014. Investigating helicopter parenting, family environments, and relational outcomes for millennials. Communication Studies 65(4). 407–425. DOI: 10.1080/10510974.2013.811434
  47. Padilla-Walker, Laura M. & Larry J. Nelson. 2012. Black hawk down?: Establishing helicopter parenting as a distinct construct from other forms of parental control during emerging adulthood. Journal of Adolescence 35(5). 1177–1190. DOI: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2012.03.007
  48. Prażmo, Ewelina. 2019. “Leftie snowflakes” and other metaphtonymies in the British political discourse. Journal of Language and Politics 18(3). 371–392. DOI: 10.1075/jlp.17073.pra
  49. Prażmo, Ewelina & Rafał Augustyn. 2020. Parasites, herbivores and dried fish: Dehumanising metaphorical blends in Japanese. GEMA Online® Journal of Language Studies 20(2). 148–167. DOI: 10.17576/gema-2020-2002-09
  50. Rigato, Emanuele & Alessandro Minelli. 2013. The great chain of being is still here. Evolution: Education and Outreach 6(18). DOI: 10.1186/1936-6434-6-18
  51. Ripley, Amanda. 2013. The smartest kids in the world: And how they got that way. Simon & Schuster.
  52. Santrock, John W. 2007. A topical approach to life-span development. (3rd edn.) McGraw-Hill.
  53. Schiffrin, Holly H. 2014. Helping or hovering? The effects of helicopter parenting on college students’ well-being. Journal of Child and Family Studies 23(3). 548–557. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.1993.tb00556.x
  54. Shaw, Zoey A. & Lisa R. Starr. 2019. Intergenerational transmission of emotion dysregulation: The role of authoritarian parenting style and family chronic stress. Journal of Child and Family Studies 28(12). 3508–3518. DOI: 10.1007/s10826-019-01534-1
  55. Turner, Lisa A., Robert D. Faulk & Tully Garner. 2020. Helicopter parenting, authenticity, and depressive symptoms: a mediation model. Journal of Genetic Psychology: Research and Theory on Human Development 181(6). 500–505. DOI: 10.1080/00221325.2020.1775170
  56. Van Ingen, Daniel J., Stacy Freiheit, Jesse A. Steinfeldt, Linda Moore, David J. Wimer, Adelle D. Knutt, Samantha Scapinello & Amber Roberts. 2015. Helicopter parenting: The effect of an overbearing caregiving style on peer attachment and self-efficacy. Journal of College Counseling 18(1). 7–20. DOI: 10.1002/j.2161-1882.2015.00065.x
  57. Vigdal, Julia Schønning and Kolbjørn Kallesten Brønnick. 2022. A systematic review of “helicopter parenting” and its relationship with anxiety and depression. Frontiers in Psychology 13. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.872981
  58. Yancey, George. 2014. Dehumanizing Christians: Cultural competition in a multicultural world. Transaction Publishers.
  59. A nation at risk: The imperative for educational reform. 1983. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED226006 (15 September, 2021)
  60. Baton rouge parents. n.d. https://www.brparents.com/article/are-you-a-drone-parent.html (14 October, 2021)
  61. Bayless, Kate. 2019. What is helicopter parenting? https://www.parents.com/parenting/better-parenting/what-is-helicopter-parenting/ (5 December 5, 2021)
  62. BBC News. 2019. Felicity Huffman handed prison time over college admissions scandal. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49693193 (15 September, 2021)
  63. Cambridge Dictionary. n.d. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/ (18 August, 2021)
  64. Corpus of Contemporary American English. n.d. https://www.english-corpora.org/coca/ (15 November, 2021)
  65. Engler, Alexandra. 2020. Snowplow parenting: What it means & how it affects your kids in the long run. Mbg. https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/snowplow-parenting-what-it-means-what-it-means-for-your-kids/ (15 November, 2021)
  66. Garrity, Amanda. 2019. ‘Full House’ star Candace Cameron Bure posts cryptic message after Lori Loughlin college scandal. GH. https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/entertainment/a26822473/candace-cameron-bure-lori-loughlin-cheating-scandal/ (10 September, 2021)
  67. Gordon, Sherri. 2021. What is lawnmower parenting? https://www.verywellfamily.com/lawnmower-parenting-4771519 (12 September, 2021)
  68. Higuera, Valencia. 2019. All about lawnmower parenting. https://www.healthline.com/health/parenting/lawnmower-parents#pros-and-cons(12 September, 2021)
  69. Lascala, Marisa. 2019. What is lawnmower parenting? Experts say it frequently backfires.https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/parenting/a27044862/what-islawnmower-parenting/ (8 September, 2021)
  70. Lythcott-Haims, Julie. 2015b. The four cultural shifts that led to the rise of the helicopter parent. https://www.businessinsider.com/the-rise-of-the-helicopter-parent-2015-7?IR=T(12 June, 2021)
  71. Maguire, Cheryl. 2019. How the snowplow parenting trend affects kids.https://www.parents.com/parenting/better-parenting/style/snowplow-parenting-pros-and-cons-according-to-experts/ (12 September, 2021)
  72. Marano, Hara E. 2014. Helicopter parenting – It’s worse than you think. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/nation-wimps/201401/helicopter-parenting-its-worse-you-think (12 September, 2021)
  73. Merriam-Webster. n.d. https://www.merriam-webster.com/(12 June, 2021)
  74. Merriam-Webster. n.d. 9 words for types of parenting. https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/types-of-parents-meanings/dolphin-jellyfish-parent(20 August, 2021)
  75. News on the Web. n.d. https://www.english-corpora.org/now/(15 November, 2021)
  76. Morin, Amy. 2020. What is helicopter parenting? https://www.verywellfamily.com/helicopter-parents-do-they-help-or-hurt-kids-1095041 (12 September, 2021)
  77. Murder of Adam Walsh. n.d..https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Adam_Walsh (2 May, 2023)
  78. Online Etymology Dictionary n.d. https://www.etymonline.com/word/over-(14 June, 2021) Oxford English Dictionary n.d. https://www.oed.com/(9 September, 2021)
  79. Sachs, George. 2017. The drone parent: A helicopter parent on steroids. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/are-you-a-helicopter-pare_b_8528080 (7 August, 2021)
  80. Waverman Emma. 2019. Snowplow parenting: What to know about the controversial technique. https://www.todaysparent.com/blogs/snowplow-parenting-the-latest-controversial-technique/ (12 September, 2021)
  81. Weber, Jill. 2016. Helicopter parenting. http://www.healthylivingmagazine.us/Articles/641/ (12 September, 2021.)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14746/stap.2025.59.04 | Journal eISSN: 2082-5102 | Journal ISSN: 0081-6272
Language: English
Page range: 81 - 109
Published on: Feb 22, 2026
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 4 issues per year

© 2026 Robert Kiełtyka, Agnieszka Grząśko, published by Adam Mickiewicz University
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.