Dimensions Of Psychological Distance Research Articles

Thinking in 3D: A multidimensional mapping of the effects of distance on abstraction.

Despite a large body of research concerning the effects of psychological distance, our understanding about how different dimensions of distance interact and influence cognition is still limited. In this study, we moved beyond first-order approximations of the effects of psychological distance, to map the effects of multidimensional events as they appear in the world. We developed a novel experimental idiographic paradigm in which participants were asked to generate narratives of events. We simultaneously manipulated the prompts to adjust the perceived proximity in three dimensions of psychological distance, according to what individuals consider to be close to (or far from) them. Additionally, we trained an algorithm to identify the distances depicted in these narratives. Consistent with construal level theory, the results of our large-sample, preregistered analyses revealed that an increase in distance, irrespective of its type, led to more abstract representations and that experimentally manipulating distance on one dimension led to increased distance on the other dimensions. This was true for both traditional measures of linguistic abstraction and memory semanticization measures that quantify the amount of episodic detail. Results show that the effect of distance on abstraction was consistent across its various dimensions, confirming a monotonic and additive (i.e., linear) relationship. This sheds light on the mechanisms whereby psychological distance affects our thought and paves the way for more refined, integrative models of how our minds construct possible futures and alternative realities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Competing construals in advertising: the central role of feeling closer to the brand versus closer to other brand users

PurposeWhile consumer–brand relationships bring to mind commonalities such as shared interests and values, the way consumers construe information can differ depending on the situation and their connections to the brand. This study aims to propose that construal level impacts how consumers process information and looks at how two dimensions of psychological distance affect the persuasiveness of different types of advertising appeals.Design/methodology/approachFour experimental studies test the singular effects that social and temporal distance construals have on the persuasiveness of advertising appeals. This research further investigates whether social distance construals can be situationally primed and matched with advertising appeals to improve willingness to pay. Overall, the combined effects are tested when both dimensions are simultaneously activated, but the valence of the construal levels potentially moves in opposite directions.FindingsStudies 1 and 3 find that matching social distance construals and advertising appeals positively impacts willingness to pay, whereas Study 2 reveals that matching temporal distance construals and advertising appeals also positively effects willingness to pay. Furthermore, Study 4 finds that the social distance dimension has a more dominant impact on willingness to pay, except in near future scenarios when there are combined effects of competing construals.Research limitations/implicationsThis research indicates that initial social distance construals are more salient than subsequent temporal distance construals.Practical implicationsThis study helps marketers to identify the most effective advertising appeals for consumers with different types of relationships and psychological distance construals.Originality/valueThis study contributes to both theory and practice by extending knowledge of which types of construals are more salient when competing construals are triggered and by helping marketers identify the most effective advertising appeals for consumers under these different conditions.

Exploring perceived learning effectiveness in virtual reality health communication through the lens of construal level theory

BackgroundVirtual reality is increasingly being used for health communication. This study aimed to propose and test an integrated model of the determinants of perceived learning effectiveness in virtual reality (VR) within health communication. It proposes that psychological distance negatively affects immersion, flow, and presence, positively affecting perceived learning effectiveness.MethodsThe Fuzzy Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory Method (F-DEMATEL) and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to test the proposed model. Data for the F-DEMATEL study were collected from 20 participants, whereas data for the SEM study were collected from 1104 participants, with 775 included in the final analysis.ResultsThe results of the F-DEMATEL study revealed that the three dimensions of psychological distance, emotional distance, spatial distance, and social distance are causal factors. In contrast, temporal, technical, and hypothetical distance are effect factors. The SEM results confirmed the negative effects of psychological distance on flow and presence and the positive effects of immersion and presence on perceived learning effectiveness. In addition, the mediating role of presence was confirmed.ConclusionsThe results suggest that interrelationships among the factors can enhance the perceived learning effectiveness of health communication from VR. The crucial role of ensuring low psychological distance and high engagement in VR communication is also confirmed, providing crucial implications for VR communication practitioners.

How does spatial distance to travel companions transform to temporal distance in travel purchase decisions?

The temporal distance between purchase time and departure time is inherent within travel purchase decisions. Construal level theory suggests that construal congruence between various dimensions of psychological distance leads to positive effects. Hence, this study explored whether the spatial distance between tourists and their companions in the pre-trip phase impacts temporal distance in travel purchase decisions. We tested a theoretical model that contained spatial distance between tourists and their companions, imagery vividness, temporal distance in travel purchase decisions, and product presentation by five studies. Findings revealed that spatially distant (vs. near) companions encourage tourists to purchase more distant-future (vs. near-future) tourism products. Additionally, spatial distance transforms to temporal distance in travel purchase decisions via imagery vividness, and this effect is more pronounced in abstract presentations than in concrete presentations.

Handle with care! teachers in Egyptian cringe comedies: a multimodal analysis

Abstract For almost a century, several Egyptian comedies have set up cringe-worthy power-sensitive encounters between struggling low-paid teachers and spoiled rich and powerful students, often leading to negative portrayals of teachers and student-teacher relationship. One play, Madraset el-Moshaghbeen ‘School of the Rowdies’ (1971), has long been held accountable for student misconduct across the country. A 2008 film with a loosely similar theme, RamaDan Mabrouk Abul-Alamein Hamouda, has received a much warmer welcome as a harmless light comedy. This paper brings these two comedies into focus and probes into the management of cringe in filmic text based on the Benign-Violation Theory of humor as well as Baldry and Thibault’s (2006. Multimodal transcription and text analysis: A multimedia toolkit and coursebook with associated on-line course. Equinox) Multimodal Transcription Model. Optimizing for the four dimensions of psychological distance (temporal, social, spatial, and hypothetical) would help control the benignity of embarrassing violations and free the audience to enjoy the humor. Alternatively, minimizing psychological distance would evoke audience empathy with the violated teacher character and may block audience amusement. Audience reactions through the comment field on strategic clips from the film and play on YouTube would reveal whether a cringe-inducing scene has evoked amusement, vicarious embarrassment, or both. The paper proposes an inventory of the features that would contribute to adjusting psychological distance to achieve the desired effect. These features intersect with the four dimensions of psychological distance, narrative and stylistic choices, as well as the multimodal affordances of filmic and embodied expressions.

The Effects of Social Responsibility and Different Dimensions of Psychological Distance on Cooperative Behavior

The Effects of Social Responsibility and Different Dimensions of Psychological Distance on Cooperative Behavior

해석수준이론과 계층적 토픽 모델링을 활용한 제주 예멘 난민 사례에 대한 프레임 분석

This study conducted a frame analysis using BERTopic-based hierarchical topic modeling on the 2018 case of Yemeni refugees in Jeju Island to offer insights for frame research and policy. The findings revealed that people's interpretation levels and frames shifted based on their psychological distance. The consistency across the four dimensions of psychological distance was not always maintained. Furthermore, media played a crucial role in mediating psychological distance by conveying both high-level and low-level interpretations. In light of these results, this study underscores that frames can emerge not only from core values but also from immediate psychological mechanisms. Therefore, it suggests that a combination of frame analysis and Construal Level Theory is essential for comprehensively analyzing the multifaceted nature of frames.

How can coffee shops draw customers back after COVID-19? the influence of psychological distance on coffee versus tea preference

The complex situation of COVID-19 raises the need for coffee entrepreneurs to be more innovative and apply strategies to enhance the attractiveness of coffee over other beverages, such as tea, and thereby increase their profits. According to recent studies, coffee and tea cues influence consumers’ psychological distance perspectivewith coffee cues tending to prompt psychological proximity and tea cues psychological distance. Such findings raise questions regarding the inverse relationship between psychological distance and coffee versus tea preference, which the present paper attempts to address. In seven experiments using different dimensions of psychological distance, the authors found that thepreference for coffee over tea appeared to decrease (increase) with psychological distance (proximity). The findings refute the notion that arousal level, level of knowledge or mood could account for the results. However, it was determined that regular coffee consumption moderates the influence of psychological distance on coffee versus tea preference.

How Does Entrepreneurial Role Model Connect to Entrepreneurial Perceptions: The Moderating Role of Psychological Distance

Abstract The influence of entrepreneurial role models on individuals could be regarded as a social learning process. However, we still lack an in-depth understanding of under what conditions the impacts of entrepreneurial role models are stronger or weaker. This paper draws on social learning theory and construal level theory to explore how entrepreneurial role models relate to individuals’ entrepreneurial perceptions under different psychological distance dimensions. A representative sample of 322 final-year students from nine universities in China was analyzed. The results demonstrated that entrepreneurial role model was positively associated with feasibility and desirability perceptions. Further, we found that the spatial distance and social distance as boundary conditions, respectively, moderated the main effects. This study extends prior research on the functions of entrepreneurial role model by providing a psychological distance perspective.

The impact of psychological distance to climate change and urban informality on adaptation planning

Climate change adaptation planning involves adjusting to the impacts of climate change and taking action to mitigate its adverse effects. Psychological distance, the separation between one's self-perception and actual events, can play a significant role in an individual's readiness to adapt to climate change impacts. This study aims to investigate the socioeconomic factors associated with psychological distance to climate change in formal and informal settlements of Lahore, Pakistan. Using a literature review, data indicators were selected and grouped into the psychological distance dimensions of spatial, temporal, social, and hypothetical. A questionnaire survey was conducted in the study area, resulting in a total of 400 responses. Descriptive statistics and sampled paired t-tests were used to measure differences between responses from formal and informal communities, and multivariate regression models were developed to identify socioeconomic factors associated with psychological distance to climate change. The results of the study indicate a significant difference between formal and informal settlements in spatial distance and hypothetical dimensions. Additionally, household size, average household income, number of children, and past experiences with extreme weather conditions were found to be significant factors. The study recommends that these factors be taken into account when engaging with the public, communicating risks, and devising relevant policies for effective adaptation planning.

The Influence of Psychological Distance on the Challenging Moral Decision Support of Sports Majors in Internet of Things and Machine Learning

This work intends to examine the influence of different dimensions of psychological distance on the moral decision-making of sports college students in sports dilemmas under different learning pressure conditions, and to further investigate the relationship between psychological distance and moral decision-making. The research on the influencing factors of moral decision-making of sports majors can effectively help to understand the moral cognition level of the group, and provide a reference for the interpretation of athletes’ moral anomie behavior, thereby enriching the content of the moral quality education of athletes. This work intends to study the impact of psychological distance on the moral decision support of sports college students in the context of the Internet of Things (IoT) and machine learning. Psychological distance in the machine learning environment may affect individuals’ understanding and cognition of events and, to a certain extent, can change students’ cognition and judgment of events. IoT and machine learning environments are chosen as the foundation. The learning pressure of college students majoring in physical education is a variable. A questionnaire survey and experimental design are used to test the influence of different degrees of learning pressure, social distance, and spatial distance on the moral decision-making of physical education college students in the sports dilemma. The dimensions of the psychological distance of physical education (PE) students are analyzed under different stress conditions and their impact on the moral decision-making of PE students. This experiment adopts a mixed experimental design of 3 learning stresses (no stress vs. moderate stress vs. high stress) × 2 social distances (self vs. others) × 2 spatial distances (Beijing vs. France). The results show that the main effect of social distance is significant. When the self is the decision-making subject, individuals tend to make more moral decisions. There is a significant interaction between social distance and learning pressure. In a stress-free and high-stress environment, individuals make a significant increase in the number of moral decisions when faced with self-centered decision-making. Now, moral decision-making and its consequences are important for college students majoring in sports. The results of their moral decision-making in the field of education directly reflect the image of the individual and even the institution.

So Close, Yet So Far Away: Exploring the Role of Psychological Distance from Climate Change on Corporate Sustainability

Despite some improvements and increasing social pressures, most organizations seem to be stagnating in a superficial implementation of sustainability practices despite the accumulation of climate change consequences. Research on corporate sustainability has shown that external pressures and psychological factors influence managers’ environmental decisions. However, these psychological factors have been undertheorized in the management research field. The concept of psychological distance has shown promising results in studying environmental behaviors. This concept is rooted in the construal level theory and is defined as the subjective experience of feeling that something is close or far away from the self, the here and the now. Therefore, it represents a relevant path for exploration in research on corporate sustainability. The main goals of this integrative review are to explore how the concept of psychological distance has been employed in research on corporate sustainability and to explore related concepts from this research field. Additionally, concepts that are related to the four dimensions of psychological distance (i.e., temporal, spatial, social, and hypothetical) are critically discussed. The links between these concepts and their impacts on sustainability endeavors within organizations are then visually presented through a conceptual map, which forms the main contribution of this review. Further theoretical contributions are presented, the implications for managers are discussed, and future research avenues are proposed.

Distance makes the heart grow fonder: A construal-level perspective on entrepreneurial opportunity evaluation

Drawing on construal-level theory (CLT), this study observes that potential entrepreneurs perceive less risk and are more likely to evaluate an opportunity positively when the psychological distance is far rather than near. Two experimental studies are conducted using two samples. We further demonstrate the weaker influence of psychological distance on opportunity evaluation through risk perception when entrepreneurs are experienced and have longer prior start-up experience. We contribute by highlighting the value of integrating CLT into research on entrepreneurial opportunities and revealing the effect of the various dimensions of psychological distance on opportunity evaluation. Moreover, we uncover the interrelationships between psychological distance and risk perception and entrepreneurial experience.

«Let’s Go Deep into the Game to Save Our Planet!» How an Immersive and Educational Video Game Reduces Psychological Distance and Raises Awareness

Climate change appears to be the ecological issue which benefits from the most attention in the literature, compared to equally alarming situations such as plastic pollution. In fact, waste management issues took a new step with the recent discovery of microplastics in human blood for the first time, as it used to be a hypothesis. Instead of separating those questions, some researchers tend to consider that a link exists between the effects of global warming and plastic degradation in the ocean. Research focusing on the construal-level theory and the psychological distance explain the lack of public interest in the environmental crisis. However, recent studies highlight the empirical support of the psychological distance instead of the CLT, especially regarding climate change, but a few studies explore the psychological distance related to plastic pollution. With that in mind, any means to reduce the perceived psychological distance regarding environmental issues such as plastic pollution might increase their sensitivity and motivation to act. Moreover, the change of habit could be induced by a new event that would disrupt someone’s daily life according to the habit discontinuity hypothesis, and the use of immersive media such as video games might be the solution. Given numerous possibilities of creation with the scenarios, gameplay, public of interest and gaming contexts, video games also influence motivation, engagement and learning ability. We can also find specific components and mechanisms from game design in media that do not focus on entertainment first but on pedagogical purpose: serious games. Thus, this study investigates how immersive media might reduce specific psychological distance dimensions and trigger emotions using an educational video game on plastic pollution, which might play a major role in changing ones’ daily habits. The research uses a qualitative method centered on semi-structured individual interviews and the experimentation of a video game named Plasticity. Results support all the propositions and show that different types of immersion might reduce each dimension of the psychological distance, which is a first, reinforcing environmental awareness and new intentions of pro-environmental behavior. Other areas of discussion are furthered explored.

Moving, Fast or Slow: How Perceived Speed Influences Mental Representation and Decision Making

Abstract Can the sensation of moving fast versus slow systematically influence consumer behavior? With recent technological innovations, people increasingly experience speed during decision making. They can be physically on the move with their devices or virtually immersed in speed simulated through their devices. Through seven experiments, we provide evidence for a speed-abstraction effect, where the perception of moving faster (vs. slower) leads people to rely on more abstract (vs. concrete) mental representations during decision making. This effect manifests for virtually simulated (experiment 1) and physically experienced (experiment 2) movement on moving trains. We suggest that it stems from an underlying speed-abstraction schema where people associate faster speed with abstraction and slower speed with concreteness (experiments 3a–3c). Weakening this schema attenuates the effect (experiment 4). Through a field study, experiment 5 demonstrates that video ads placed on Facebook are more engaging when virtually simulated speed matches the linguistic abstraction level of the message. Dimensions of psychological distance (time, space) and factors influencing mental representation (affect, fluency, spatial orientation) are addressed as possible alternative explanations that cannot account for the effect. We propose a framework for understanding how experiencing speed—both physical and virtual—can influence decision making.

The use of direct and indirect speech across psychological distance

The current study investigated how psychological distance affects people’s preference for direct and indirect speech in a narrative task. In three experiments, participants were instructed to first watch a video and then retell what happened in the video to an imagined/anticipated listener. We manipulated social distance (Experiment 1), temporal distance (Experiment 2), and spatial distance (Experiment 3) between participants and the listener. We compared the proportions of direct speech in the narrations from psychologically proximal versus distal conditions. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that social and temporal proximity increased the rates of direct speech. Social and temporal distance, conversely, increased the rates of indirect speech. Experiment 3 did not yield a significant difference in the use of direct and indirect speech between spatially proximal and distal conditions. Taken together, our results indicate that different psychological dimensions might have discrepant effects on people’s choices between direct and indirect speech. Possible explanations for the discrepancy among different psychological distance dimensions are discussed.

A Comprehensive Literature Review on Psychological Distance and Online Purchasing Intention Towards Big Ticket Electronics: A Mediating Effect of Online Trust and Moderating Effect of Perceived Risk

E-commerce provides the opportunity for retailers to attract and nurture a wider consumer base in big ticket consumer electronics trade sans the traditional high investment intensive pre-requisites such as extravagant physical presence, wide distribution networks etc. However, distrust in the mindset of the consumer in turn impede such opportunities. By using the construal level theory such reluctance could be partially explained via psychological distance; and by deploying certain tactics and manipulating the underlying dimensions of psychological distance, whether retailers have the ability to offset such reluctance in the mindset of consumers without the need for heavy investment on complicated operating structures. This research marks a unique milestone in Sri Lanka where it is the first of its’ nature to explore a heavily under-researched frontier of psychological distance in the context of e-commerce, and calls for more systematic research attention towards such. This paper offers practitioners an overview of variables such as psychological distance, online trust, perceived risk and online purchasing intention in view of expanding the local e-commerce market for big ticket electronics.

Response Efficacy in Environmental Discounting: Concern and Action towards Climate Change Threats

Extending preceding environmental discounting studies, we examined the role of response efficacy (in low, control, and high conditions) in participants’ valuation of climate-change concern and action across four psychological distance dimensions (temporal, spatial, social, and probabilistic). Participants gave ratings of concern and action in the context of two hypothetical scenarios which were directly related to two different threats (droughts and floods) posed by unmitigated climate change. Rachlin’s hyperboloid discount functions fit the data well. The previously observed gap between concern and action ratings was not replicated in the main analyses, but was seen in the ratings at the minimum distance values. Response efficacy differentially affected ratings of concern and action at the minimum distance values for the temporal, social, and probabilistic dimensions, but differentially affected discount values (k) only for the probabilistic dimension. Compared to their level of concern with the environmental threat, participants who were led to believe that their actions were not efficacious were less willing to engage in mitigation behaviors than participants who were led to believe that their actions were efficacious. The insights gained through the current research effort may be valuable for policymaking as well as intervention design aiming to increase societal mitigation and adaptation efforts.

Psychological distance towards COVID-19: Geographical and hypothetical distance predict attitudes and mediate knowledge

While different antecedents have been examined to explain peoples’ reactions towards COVID-19, there is only scarce understanding about the role of the subjective closeness and distance to the pandemic. Within the current study, we applied the concept of psychological distance to understand the distance towards COVID-19 and investigated its (1) connection with preventive attitudes and proactive behaviors, (2) context-specific antecedents, and its (3) mediating effect of knowledge on attitudes. Using an online sample from a German quantitative cross-sectional study (N = 395, M = 32.2 years, SD = 13.9 years, 64.3% female) in July 2020, a time with a general low incidence of people infected with Sars-CoV2, we measured relevant socio-psychological constructs addressing COVID-19 and included further information from external sources. Based on a path model, we found geographical distance as a significant predictor of cognitive attitudes towards COVID-19. Furthermore, hypothetical distance (i.e., feeling to be likely affected by COVID-19) predicted not only participants’ affective, cognitive, and behavioral attitudes, but also the installation of a corona warning-app. While several variables affected the different dimensions of psychological distance, hypothetical and geographical distance mediated the effect of knowledge on attitudes. These results underline the role of geographical and hypothetical distance for health-related behaviors and education. For example, people will only comply with preventive measures if they feel geographically concerned by the disease, which is particularly challenging for fast-spreading global diseases such as COVID-19. Therefore, there is a need to clearly communicate the personal risks of diseases and address peoples’ hypothetical distance.

Keeping One’s Distance: Mask Wearing is Implicitly Associated With Psychological Distance

Mask wearing plays a vital role in the fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Despite its ubiquity in everyday social life, it is still unknown how masked faces are mentally represented. Drawing on construal-level theory, we test the hypothesis that masked faces and unmasked faces are implicitly associated with psychological distance and proximity in memory, respectively. Four preregistered, high-powered experiments (N = 354 adults) using the Implicit Association Test lend convergent support to this hypothesis across all four dimensions of psychological distance: social distance, spatial distance, temporal distance, and hypothetical distance. A mini meta-analysis validates the reliability of the findings (Hedge’s g = 0.46). The present work contributes to the growing literature on construal-level effects on implicit social cognition and enriches the current discussion on mask wearing in the pandemic and beyond.