Psychological Distance Theory Research Articles

The Contrast Effect in Temporal and Probabilistic Discounting.

In this information age, messages related to time, and uncertainty surround us. At the same time, our daily lives are filled with decisions accompanied by temporal delay or uncertainty. Will such information influence our temporal and probabilistic discounting? The authors address this question from the perspectives of decision by sampling (DbS) theory and psychological distance theory. Studies 1 and 2 investigated the effect of contextual messages on temporal discounting and probabilistic discounting, respectively. The results indicated that participants who memorized messages about long-term and low-probability events rated delay or uncertainty as mentally closer and exhibited a less degree of value discounting than those who memorized messages regarding short-term and high-probability events. In addition, a sense of distance from present or reality mediated the effect of contextual messages on value discounting. The implications of the current findings for theory and applications are discussed.

잠재적 외래 관광객을 위한 한류 관광 정보화 정책

The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceived recognition of the potential foreign tourists from seven different language groups regarding the Korean wave to find their distinctive different issues and needs. In order to find such traits, a survey was conducted on 4,245 international tourists from 7 different linguistic groups who visited the Korea Tourism Organization(KTO)’s website VisitKorea which hosted for the promotion of the Korean Wave. A total of 90 Korean Wave keywords was retrieved from the collected survey data and sorted them into 8 categories using content analysis: Celebrity, ICT, Contents, Culture & Heritage, Shopping, Destinations & Tourism, Korean studies and Event & Festivals. In this research, the differences in issues and the needs of among the tourists from the seven language groups in the 8 categories were studied based on the Construal Level Theory(CLT) and Psychological Distance Theory. Finally, on the basis of the Distance Decay Theory(DDT), several implications of tourism information strategies on the globalization of Korean Wave(Hallyu) tourism were suggested.

Теория конструктов разного уровня Н. Либерман и Я. Троупа

H. Lieberman’s, and J. Troup’s Construal-Level Theory of Psychological Distance is widely known in the English sources of social psychology. Wherein, it is used to explain various phenomena and cognitive memory research, perception and categorization. The review describes the basic tenets of the theory, concerning the relationship of psychological distance and the level of constructs. A brief description and basic key studies of different topics within the theory are included. The importance of the theory constructs at different levels of social cognition is stressed. Basic concepts of the theory are given to describe and explain various phenomena of social cognition. The key researches in the field of the theory are described to deal with such phenomena as the fundamental attribution error, the prediction of social events, behavioral intentions, self-control, goals and means of action. In conclusion, issues that remain unsolved at the present stage of development of the theory are discussed. The study was implemented in the framework of the Basic Research Program at the National Research University Higher School of Economics in 2016, and partially supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), grant 15-06-02233 A., “Automatic activation of actions with objects: control mechanisms and conditions of occurrence”.

A psychological view on open access publishing: The reasoned action approach

Open Access (OA) has already been with us for some time, and with what has been branded a movement, is now more accurately labeled a trend that holds the promise of disrupting the traditional publishing paradigm. This, naturally, has garnered much interest in the numbers; statistics pertaining to article downloads, citation advantages, and the general impact of an article (that is readily available for people to access and download at their leisure). Copyright, post- and preprint; what is allowed to make available on, say, institutional pages (depending on, for example, agreements with financial backers), has also been debated. Much work has already been done in relation to tracking publications and surveying researchers’ sentiment towards OA. We have learned that, in academia, certain issues related to OA have been more salient than others, some pertaining to the perceived lack of quality in something that is “free”, or the misconceived idea that you essentially pay to have an article immediately published, and also the lack of impact OA journals suffered in its infant years. Other concerns related to economics (i.e. publication fees/APCs or buying an article free in hybrid OA), and the presence of predatory publishers seeking to gain a quick profit on APCs. Although we have much data from conducting studies of varying sizes and asking many questions, and we can say quite a bit about what the challenges with researchers’ OA behavior are – little work has actually been done trying to explain what drives this behavior. Assuming you are a scientist who is conducting research, what are the underlying factors for your intention to disseminate that research via OA? How should we design interventions, and interventions that work, to boost OA use? Some influential theoretical frameworks hailing from psychology can contribute to answering these questions. And, in so doing, help illuminate what drives intentions and how to better understand them. For example, at its most superficial level the reasoned action approach postulates that a person’s attitude towards performing a behavior, the normative pressure that person experiences towards performing the behavior, and to which degree he or she feels control over performing the actual behavior, together influences the intention to carry out the behavior in question. This framework has been used to investigate behavior in a wide variety of settings – it holds promise to shine light on, and give explanation to, the psychological mechanisms in publishing behavior. A complementary framework, construal level theory of psychological distance, describes psychological mechanisms that underlie behavior. Specifically it pertains to how level of abstraction may influence how we construe events. This framework may be beneficial in design of measures to boost open access publishing.The project aims to explain intention to publish open access using the reasoned action approach, collect and analyze data from Norwegian universities and university colleges, and to design theory-driven measures to boost open access publishing and address issues uncovered in the main study.

Source Similarity and Social Media Health Messages: Extending Construal Level Theory to Message Sources.

Social media users post messages about health goals and behaviors to online social networks. Compared with more traditional sources of health communication such as physicians or health journalists, peer sources are likely to be perceived as more socially close or similar, which influences how messages are processed. This experimental study uses construal level theory of psychological distance to predict how mediated health messages from peers influence health-related cognition and behavioral intention. Participants were exposed to source cues that identified peer sources as being either highly attitudinally and demographically similar to or different from participants. As predicted by construal level theory, participants who perceived sources of social media health messages as highly similar listed a greater proportion of beliefs about the feasibility of health behaviors and a greater proportion of negative beliefs, while participants who perceived sources as more dissimilar listed a greater proportion of positive beliefs about the health behaviors. Results of the study could be useful in determining how health messages from peers could encourage individuals to set realistic health goals.

Psychological proximity and the construal of crime: A commentary on ‘Mapping fear of crime as a context‐dependent everyday experience that varies in space and time’

Fear of crime is a dynamic psychosocial phenomenon, and sophisticated methodologies are necessary in order to explore its multidimensionality and complexity. The experience sampling method (ESM) that is used by Solymosi and colleagues (2015) is a promising methodological way forward in fear of crime research. While acknowledging the advantages of ESM, in this commentary we discuss a potential disadvantage of the method, namely the possibility that ESM can increase the psychological proximity of crime. Drawing upon construal‐level theory of psychological distance, we argue that ESM might sensitize people to think about crime through the lens of personal risk, with a knock‐on effect on the construal of crime.

How limiting factors drive agricultural adaptation to climate change

Consensus is growing that agriculture is vulnerable to climate change and adaptation responses are necessary to minimize impacts. Nonetheless, the diversity of potential impacts, agro-ecological contexts and regional capacity for change make understanding adaptation behaviors challenging and ensure that climate change adaptation will not be the same across all contexts. Considering this heterogeneity, this paper aims to develop a theoretical approach to connect agro-ecosystem diversity with farmer decision-making in the context of agricultural adaptation to climate change. We combine the ecological principle of Liebig’s Law of the Minimum with the Psychological Distance Theory to suggest how adaptation behaviors vary across regional contexts. We argue with our limiting factors hypothesis that limiting factors within a farm system (water or temperature impacts) influence the adoption of adaptation practices differently across regions and farm systems. Limiting factors varied across farm systems and regions, based on historical climate changes, agro-ecological contexts, infrastructure and adaptation capacity. Using farmer survey data from New Zealand we show that limiting factors mediate the effect of past climate experiences on the adoption of adaptation strategies differently in two regions with water acting as a limiting factor in Hawke’s Bay and water and temperature as a limiting factor in Marlborough. This suggests that farmers perceive and respond to climate change in part due to their personal experiences with climate change and the limiting factors within their system. Such results are relevant for the development of regional adaptation strategies, effective policies and targeted climate change communication.

Leading from different psychological distances: A construal-level perspective on vision communication, goal setting, and follower motivation

How should leaders construct and communicate their messages to most effectively motivate their employees? We offer an integrative framework to address the diverging and complementary nature of two established approaches to employee motivation: Vision communication and goal setting. Specifically, while vision communication involves formulating relatively abstract, far-reaching, and timeless messages, effective goal setting involves formulating specific, challenging and time-constrained objectives. Building on construal level theory of psychological distance, we argue that the experience of construal fit between the attributes of a message and the attributes of the situation will enhance its motivational effectiveness. We present a framework that addresses when visions and goals achieve construal fit and explains why and how construal fit leads to increased follower motivation. We discuss different approaches to integrating visions and goals, propose directions for future research, and illustrate how the notion of construal fit may be used for explaining key organizational phenomena.

The Distinct Affective Consequences of Psychological Distance and Construal Level

Much of the existing literature on psychological distance has focused on cognitive outcomes, such as changes in construal level, largely framing affective processes out of the discussion. The current research examines the distinct influences of psychological distance and construal level on affect-based evaluation. In a first set of experiments, psychological distance (vs. closeness) reduces the intensity of felt affect, while abstract (vs. concrete) thinking increases the positivity of one's thoughts. In a second set of experiments, psychological distance improves evaluations of negative experiences by reducing the intensity of negative affect but hurts evaluations of positive experiences by reducing the intensity of positive affect. By contrast, abstract thinking increases positivity, improving evaluations for both positive and negative experiences alike. These findings have implications for marketing communication strategy and existing theories of psychological distance.

Green is good but is usability better? Consumer reactions to environmental initiatives in e-banking services

There is an emerging consensus in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature suggesting that the quest for the so-called business case for CSR should be abandoned. In the same vein, several researchers have suggested that future research should start examining not whether, but rather when CSR is likely to have strengthened, weakened or even nullified effects on organizational outcomes (e.g. Margolis et al. in Does it pay to be good? A meta-analysis and redirection of research on corporate social and financial performance. Working Paper, Harvard Business School, 2007; Kiron et al. in MIT Sloan Manag Rev 53(2):69---74, 2012). Using perspectives from several theoretical frameworks (Needs Theory, Technology Acceptance Theory, and Psychological Distance Theory), we contribute to the literature by empirically examining the tension between functional and sustainability attributes in a novel context, namely that of green e-banking services. The findings indicate that the positive effect of CSR on users' attitudes towards green e-banking services is moderated by two primarily utilitarian information systems factors--namely perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness--and an important utilitarian individual difference variable--namely perceived self-efficacy with technology. Our findings are also important if interpreted within the context of the ethical decision-making literature (e.g. O'Fallon and Butterfield in J Bus Ethics 59(4):375---413, 2005), as they indicate that the linkage between moral judgment and moral outcomes is unlikely to be that straightforward.

Beyond Construal: Specifying the Distinct Emotional Consequences of Psychological Distance and Abstract Construal

In contrast to research that treats psychological distance and construal level as the same construct, the current research explores an alternative view that the emotional consequences of psychological distance for judgment and action are distinct from the emotional consequences of abstract thinking. Across four studies, we find evidence suggesting that distance promotes emotional detachment, whereas abstract thinking promotes a focus on positivity. Psychological distance reduces, but abstract thinking enhances, consumers’ willingness to buy desirable products (study 1), interest in social activities (study 2), and donation rates to charity (study 3). Furthermore, although both psychological distance and abstract thinking make aversive experiences feel less painful, psychological distance reduces, while abstract thinking enhances, the pleasure of appetitive experiences (study 4). We discuss how increased specificity regarding when and why the effects of psychological distance and abstract thinking diverge can improve marketing communication strategy and broaden existing theories of psychological distance.

When curiosity kills no cat—but mediates the relation between distant future thoughts and global processing across sensory modalities

AbstractFour studies examined the effect of primed temporal distance on global versus local perception, using auditory, haptic, gustatory, and olfactory stimuli. The studies show that thinking of the more distant (versus proximal) future facilitated Gestalt perception and impaired perception of details across all four modalities: Participants thinking about the distant future listened more to the Gestalt than to the details of an artificial poem, they grasped more the overall shape than the single parts of a set of boxes, they tasted more the overall flavor than the ingredients of a müsli, and they smelled more the general aroma than the ingredients of everyday objects. The participants' self‐reported curiosity mediated our results, which is consistent with Novelty Categorization Theory. Moreover, the results are discussed within the framework of Construal Level Theory of psychological distance and GLOMOsys. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Prototypical prospection: future events are more prototypically represented and simulated than past events

AbstractThe results of four experiments support the hypothesis that mental time travel is more prototypical in the future tense than in the past tense. That is, prospection more than retrospection is grounded in scripts, schemas, stereotypes, and other prototypical mental representations of what people, places, and events are typically like. People reported that events in prospection rather than retrospection were more similar to each other and more similar to a prototypical event (encounters with homeless people in Experiment 1, ordering pizza in Experiment 2). Because prototypes tend to be abstract, people selected higher levels of action identification during prospection than during retrospection (Experiment 3) an effect that was not moderated by distance. Finally, drawings of future vacations that were generated by one sample of people were judged by a different sample of people, who were unaware of the drawings' tense, as more prototypical compared with drawings of past vacations (Experiment 4). Discussion centers on the underlying explanations of prototypical prospection and on the implications of these temporal asymmetries for theories of psychological distance. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Green is Good but Usability is Better: Consumer Reactions to Environmental Initiatives in Web-based Electronic Services

There is an emerging consensus in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature suggesting that the quest for the so-called business case for CSR should be abandoned. In the same vein, several researchers have suggested that future research should start examining not whether, but rather when CSR is likely to have strengthened, weakened or even nullified effects on organizational outcomes (e.g. Margolis et al., 2007; Kiron et al., 2012). Using perspectives from several theoretical frameworks (Needs Theory, Technology Acceptance Theory, and Psychological Distance Theory), we contribute to the literature by empirically examining the tension between functional and sustainability attributes in a novel context, namely that of green Information Systems (IS), in the context of e-banking services. The findings indicate that the positive effect of CSR on users’ attitudes towards green e-banking services is moderated by two primarily utilitarian IS factors – namely perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness – and an important utilitarian individual difference variable – namely perceived self-efficacy with technology. Our findings are also important if interpreted within the context of the ethical decision-making literature (e.g. O’Fallon and Butterfield, 2005), as they indicate that the linkage between moral judgment and moral outcomes is unlikely to be that straightforward.

"Construal-level theory of psychological distance": Correction to Trope and Liberman (2010).

"Construal-level theory of psychological distance": Correction to Trope and Liberman (2010).

Feeling close: Emotional intensity reduces perceived psychological distance.

The results of 6 experiments indicate that emotional intensity reduces perceived psychological distance. People who described events emotionally rather than neutrally perceived those events as less psychologically distant, including embarrassing autobiographical events (Experiment 1), past and future dentist visits (Experiment 2), positive and negative events (Experiment 3), and a national tragedy (Experiment 6). People also perceived an event (dancing in front of an audience) as less psychologically distant when they were in a more emotionally arousing social role (of performer) than in a less emotionally arousing social role (of observer; Experiment 4). Two findings bolster the causal role of emotional intensity in reducing perceived psychological distance. First, reported emotional intensity was negatively correlated with perceived psychological distance and statistically mediated the effect of being in an emotionally arousing social role on perceived psychological distance (Experiment 4). Second, providing people with an alternative interpretation of their emotions (emotionally ambiguous whale songs) significantly reduced, even reversed, the negative correlation between self-reported emotional intensity and perceived psychological distance (Experiment 5). These findings about emotional intensity are consistent with the broader idea that perceived psychological distance is grounded in and influenced by the phenomenology of objective distance. Implications for theories of psychological distance, emotionality, and choice are discussed.

Feeling Close: Emotional Intensity Reduces Perceived Psychological Distance

The results of six experiments indicate that emotional intensity reduces perceived psychological distance. People who described events emotionally rather than neutrally perceived those events as less psychologically distant, including embarrassing autobiographical events (Experiment 1), past and future dentist visits (Experiment 2), positive and negative events (Experiment 3), and a national tragedy (Experiment 6). People also perceived an event (dancing in front of an audience) as less psychologically distant when they were in a more emotionally arousing social role (of performer) than in a less emotionally arousing social role (of observer, Experiment 4). Two findings bolster the causal role of emotional intensity in reducing perceived psychological distance. First, reported emotional intensity was negatively correlated with perceived psychological distance, and statistically mediated the effect of being in an emotionally arousing social role on perceived psychological distance (Experiment 4). Second, providing people with an alternative interpretation of their emotions (emotionally ambiguous whale “songs”) significantly reduced, even reversed, the negative correlation between self-reported emotional intensity and perceived psychological distance (Experiment 5). These findings about emotional intensity are consistent with the broader idea that perceived psychological distance is grounded in and influenced by the phenomenology of objective distance. Implications for theories of psychological distance, emotionality, and choice are discussed.

Construal-level theory of psychological distance.

People are capable of thinking about the future, the past, remote locations, another person's perspective, and counterfactual alternatives. Without denying the uniqueness of each process, it is proposed that they constitute different forms of traversing psychological distance. Psychological distance is egocentric: Its reference point is the self in the here and now, and the different ways in which an object might be removed from that point-in time, in space, in social distance, and in hypotheticality-constitute different distance dimensions. Transcending the self in the here and now entails mental construal, and the farther removed an object is from direct experience, the higher (more abstract) the level of construal of that object. Supporting this analysis, research shows (a) that the various distances are cognitively related to each other, (b) that they similarly influence and are influenced by level of mental construal, and (c) that they similarly affect prediction, preference, and action.

The Effect of Psychological Distance on Perceptual Level of Construal

Three studies examined the effect of primed psychological distance on level of perceptual construal, using Navon's paradigm of composite letters (global letters that are made of local letters). Relative to a control group, thinking of the more distant future (Study 1), about more distant spatial locations (Study 2), and about more distant social relations (Study 3) facilitated perception of global letters relative to local letters. Proximal times, spatial locations, and social relations had the opposite effect. The results are discussed within the framework of Construal Level Theory of psychological distance (Liberman & Trope, 2008; Trope & Liberman, 2003).

Hostile Behavior and Profit in Virtual Negotiation: a Meta-Analysis

Virtual negotiations are expected to differ from face-to-face negotiations in terms of both negotiator behavior and outcomes. Nonetheless, competing theories and mixed results characterize this literature. This paper meta-analytically reviews studies that compared face-to-face negotiation with virtual negotiation (e.g., audio, email/text, video-conferencing). Competing predictions from psychological distance theory and the barrier effect perspective were tested. Overall, results supported the psychological distance theory in that face-to-face negotiations were less hostile and resulted in higher profit than virtual negotiations. Three moderators (negotiation mode, anonymity in virtual negotiation, and further interaction within the experiment) were hypothesized to impact virtual negotiation. While some moderators were significant, they did not completely account for findings across all studies. Results and discussion provide a note of caution for individuals embracing e-business and conducting Internet negotiations as well as suggestions for future research.