What does it mean to "make an emotional claim on someone"?

Factual Questions
1

What does it mean to “make an emotional claim on someone”?

I look forward to your feedback
davidmich

2

Well, I suspect the meaning depends on the context. But I’d guess that it means something like “to make a claim upon someone that derives its force principally from an appeal to the emotions of that person” (as opposed to, say, deriving its force from a legal obligation imposed on that person, or from bargain freely made by that person).

3

A claim is aright to something. A legal claim is a legal right to something. To make an emotional claim on someone sounds like a action whereby one person claims the right to exact something (love/affection/sympathy/compassion/emotional response) from someone based on a relationship they have with one another. I really don’t know.
davidmich

4

No it isn’t. (And if it were, the phrase “to make an emotional [or legal, or whatever] claim on someone” would be equivalent to “to make an emotional [or legal, or whatever] right on someone”, which is gibberish.)

What UDS says seems sensible to me, but, as he points out, some context would help a lot in interpreting this phrase.

5

Is this definition of claim wrong?

claim:
a statement that you have the legal right to something
claim to: Britain’s claim to the territories was found to be unlawful.

6

Let’s say this is a correct interpretation:
“an appeal to the emotions of that person” How can I use this phrase “make an emotional claim on someone”?

e.g. She made an emotional claim on him to prevent further hostilities.
e.g. Knowing that he would probably be let go, he made an emotional claim on his boss/boss’s sympathetic nature in order to hang on to his job…

I’m just trying out some examples to see what works. Any suggestions?
davidmich

7

It’s not wrong; it’s just not the right usage. When you have a series of meanings you need to search them all for the one that is closest.

In this case, it is obviously 4.

An emotional claim is therefore something of a redundancy, which is why the phrase looks awkward and why it is seldom used in that way. Normally, you would only see it in a context that requires the distinction between an emotional claim and a legal claim. Language often progresses in this metaphoric fashion. A term that has a technical meaning - a legal claim - has its usage extended to mean any kind of claim, with any kind of perceived right. One of those is an emotional commitment.

8

Thanks Exapno Mapcase. Very helpful.
davidmich