Replication of Experiments Evaluating Impact of Psychological Distance on Moral Judgment

2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iris L. Žeželj ◽  
Biljana R. Jokić
Keyword(s):  
Moral Judgment ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Psychological Distance ◽  
Temporal Distance ◽  
Construal Level ◽  
Systematic Effect ◽  
Replication Studies ◽  
Opposite Conclusion ◽  
Moral Transgressions ◽  
Replication Of Experiments

Eyal, Liberman, and Trope (2008) established that people judged moral transgressions more harshly and virtuous acts more positively when the acts were psychologically distant than close. In a series of conceptual and direct replications, Gong and Medin (2012) came to the opposite conclusion. Attempting to resolve these inconsistencies, we conducted four high-powered replication studies in which we varied temporal distance (Studies 1 and 3), social distance (Study 2) or construal level (Study 4), and registered their impact on moral judgment. We found no systematic effect of temporal distance, the effect of social distance consistent with Eyal et al., and the reversed effect of direct construal level manipulation, consistent with Gong and Medin. Possible explanations for the incompatible results are discussed.

Commentaries and Rejoinder on

2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 327-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Han Gong ◽  
Douglas L. Medin ◽  
Tal Eyal ◽  
Nira Liberman ◽  
Yaacov Trope ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Moral Judgment ◽  
Psychological Distance ◽  
Temporal Distance ◽  
Moral Cognition ◽  
Cultural Systems ◽  
Moral Condemnation ◽  
Construal Levels

In the hope to resolve the two sets of opposing results concerning the effects of psychological distance and construal levels on moral judgment, Žeželj and Jokić (2014) conducted a series of four direct replications, which yielded divergent patterns of results. In our commentary, we first revisit the consistent findings that lower-level construals induced by How/Why manipulation lead to harsher moral condemnation than higher-level construals. We then speculate on the puzzling patterns of results regarding the role of temporal distance in shaping moral judgment. And we conclude by discussing the complexity of morality and propose that it may be important to incorporate cultural systems into the study of moral cognition.

scholarly journals Psychological distance modulates goal-based versus movement-based imitation

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Genschow ◽  
Jochim Hansen ◽  
Michaela Wänke ◽  
Yaacov Trope
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Psychological Distance ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Construal Level Theory ◽  
Temporal Distance ◽  
Spatial Distance ◽  
Construal Level ◽  
Direct Mapping

In past research on imitation, some findings suggest that imitation is goal based, whereas other findings suggest that imitation can also be based on a direct mapping of a model’s movements without necessarily adopting the model’s goal. We argue that the two forms of imitation are flexibly deployed in accordance with the psychological distance from the model. We specifically hypothesize that individuals are relatively more likely to imitate the model’s goals when s/he is distant but relatively more likely to imitate the model’s specific movements when s/he is proximal. This hypothesis was tested in four experiments using different imitation paradigms and different distance manipulations. Experiment 1 served as a pilot study and demonstrated that temporal distance (vs. proximity) increased imitation of a goal relative to the imitation of a movement. Experiments 2 and 3 measured goal-based and movement-based imitation independently of each other and found that spatial distance (vs. proximity) decreased the rate of goal errors (indicating more goal imitation) compared to movement errors. Experiment 4 demonstrated that psychological distance operates most likely at the input—that is, perceptual—level. The findings are discussed in relation to construal level theory and extant theories of imitation.

Psychological Distance Promotes Exploration in Search of a Global Maximum

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Yudkin
Keyword(s):  
Exploratory Behavior ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Local Maximum ◽  
Psychological Distance ◽  
Construal Level Theory ◽  
Global Maximum ◽  
Construal Level ◽  
Direct Association ◽  
Decision Structure

Agents must sometimes decide whether to exploit a known resource or search for potentially more profitable options. Here, we investigate the role of psychological distancing in promoting exploratory behavior. We argue that exploration dilemmas pit the value of a reward (“desirability”) against the difficulty or uncertainty of obtaining it (“feasibility”). Based on construal level theory, which suggests that psychological distance increases the importance of rewards’ desirability (versus feasibility), we expect that psychological distance will increase exploration. Two pretests and three experiments support this prediction. Pretests A and B confirm that exploration dilemmas conform to the feasibility/desirability decision structure. In Experiment 1, participants who were prompted to consider an exploration game from a physically distanced perspective were more likely to leave a local maximum in search of a global maximum. Experiments 2 and 3 show that social distance has similar results. Experiment 4 finds evidence of a direct association between construal mindset and exploration. Overall, this research highlights how psychological distancing strategies can promote exploration.

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

2021 ◽  
pp. 194855062110440
Author(s):  
Ramzi Fatfouta ◽  
Yaacov Trope
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Psychological Distance ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Temporal Distance ◽  
Spatial Distance ◽  
Construal Level ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

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.

Hypotheticality and Level of Construal

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Grinfeld ◽  
Cheryl Jan Wakslak ◽  
Yaacov Trope ◽  
Nira Liberman
Keyword(s):  
Social Distance ◽  
Text Analysis ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
Psychological Distance ◽  
Construal Level Theory ◽  
Construal Level ◽  
Time Space ◽  
Detailed Text

Construal level theory suggests that less likely, more distant counterfactual events and actions will be represented more abstractly. However, the effect of hypotheticality on level of construal has been studied less than the effect of other dimensions of psychological distance (time, space, social distance) and recently did not replicate in two experiments (Calderon et al. 2020). Two sets of pre-registered studies attempted to close this empirical gap. In the first set, participants described more and less likely events in their life. Participants rated the mental representations of the less likely, more distant counterfactual events as being less clear and detailed. Text analysis revealed also that the descriptions of those events were less concrete. In the second set of studies, participants completed the Behavioral Identification Form, in which they chose between abstract and concrete descriptions of actions. Participants preferred to describe actions that were only a hypothetical possibility by their abstract means and actions that were actually performed by their concrete means, whether hypotheticality was manipulated within- or between-participants. We discuss potential difficulties of manipulating hypotheticality and suggest how to overcome them. We address, more generally, the nature of hypotheticality and how it is both similar to and different from other psychological distances.

Psychological Distance Promotes Exploration in Search of a Global Maximum

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 893-906 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel A. Yudkin ◽  
Rotem Pick ◽  
Elina Yewon Hur ◽  
Nira Liberman ◽  
Yaacov Trope
Keyword(s):  
Exploratory Behavior ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Local Maximum ◽  
Psychological Distance ◽  
Construal Level Theory ◽  
Global Maximum ◽  
Construal Level ◽  
Direct Association ◽  
Mind Set

Agents must sometimes decide whether to exploit a known resource or search for potentially more profitable options. Here, we investigate the role of psychological distancing in promoting exploratory behavior. We argue that exploration dilemmas pit the value of a reward (“desirability”) against the difficulty or uncertainty of obtaining it (“feasibility”). Based on construal level theory, which suggests that psychological distance increases the importance of rewards’ desirability (vs. feasibility), we expect that psychological distance will increase exploration. Four experiments support this prediction. In Experiment 1, participants who were prompted to consider an exploration game from a physically distanced perspective were more likely to leave a local maximum in search of a global maximum. Experiments 2 and 3 show that social distance has similar results. Experiment 4 finds evidence of a direct association between construal mind-set and exploration. Overall, this research highlights how psychological distancing strategies can promote exploration.

Effects of psychological distance on assessment of severity of water pollution

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Zhang ◽  
Gui-Bing He ◽  
Yue Zhu ◽  
Long Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Water Pollution ◽  
Significant Influence ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Psychological Distance ◽  
Temporal Distance ◽  
Severity Assessment ◽  
Main Effect ◽  
Probability Distance ◽  
Degree Of Severity

We conducted 2 studies to investigate the role of psychological distance in the assessment of degree of severity of water pollution. In Study 1, 132 participants evaluated the severity of water pollution with 3 dimensions of psychological distance, that is, temporal, social, and probability, each comprising 3 levels. Results showed that temporal distance did not have a significant influence on the assessment of the severity of water pollution, whereas probability and social distance did. In Study 2, 146 participants evaluated the severity of water pollution in three 2 × 2 designs and one 2 × 2 × 2 design. Results demonstrated that, when the 3 psychological distances coexisted, the main effect of probability distance on severity assessment was significant, but neither temporal nor social distance had a significant effect.

Effects of Social and Temporal Distance on Evaluation of Corporate Ambivalent Behavior

2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (7) ◽  
pp. 1219-1224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunghun Chung ◽  
Jooyoung Park
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Distance ◽  
Construal Level Theory ◽  
Temporal Distance ◽  
Construal Level ◽  
Consumer Evaluations ◽  
Single Dimension ◽  
Multiple Dimensions ◽  
A Company ◽  
Practical Implications

Based on construal level theory and subadditivity effect, in this study we examined the joint impacts of multiple dimensions of psychological distance (i.e., social and temporal distance) on consumer evaluations of a company in which the behavior was ambivalent in terms of morality or competence. The findings indicated that consumers perceiving the company as both socially and temporally close evaluated it more favorably when ambivalence concerned morality. However, when 1 or more dimensions of psychological distance extended, consumers tended to evaluate the company more favorably when the source of ambivalence concerned competence. These findings suggest that consumer evaluations of a company are influenced by not only which aspect of company behavior is ambivalent, but also by whether or not it is a single dimension or multiple dimensions of psychological distance being considered. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Matthias Hofer ◽  
Ron Tamborini ◽  
Fabian A. Ryffel
Keyword(s):  
Moral Judgment ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Moral Dilemma ◽  
Moral Intuition ◽  
Construal Level Theory ◽  
Construal Level ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Hard Place ◽  
As If

Abstract. Applying logic from both the model of intuitive morality and exemplars and construal level theory, we examined the impact of baseline moral intuition salience and social distance on the moral judgment of a narrative character confronted with a moral dilemma. After completing a measure of baseline intuition salience, participants in an experiment first read an article about a fighter pilot who shot down a plane and then judged the pilot’s actions as morally right or wrong. The article indicated that the plane had been hijacked by a terrorist who wanted to let it crash into a nearby stadium, and that the pilot shot down the plane to save the spectators in the stadium. Participants were randomly assigned to read the article either as if they were the pilot (social distance low) or as objectively as possible (social distance high). Results showed that baseline intuition salience and social distance interacted in determining moral judgment. Finally, moral judgment predicted whether participants would find the pilot guilty or not. In a second study using the same design as in the first study, we ensured that readers focused on different aspects of the dilemma depending on social distance.

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