scholarly journals Influence of Psychological Distance on People’s Willingness to Help Accident Victims: Discrepancies Between Implicit and Explicit Inferences

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 215824402110332
Author(s):  
Yuri Taniguchi ◽  
Tomoko Ikegami
Keyword(s):  
Causal Attribution ◽  
Psychological Distance ◽  
Construal Level Theory ◽  
Situational Factors ◽  
Construal Level ◽  
Cognitive Elaboration ◽  
Willingness To Help ◽  
Helping Behaviors ◽  
Implicit And Explicit

Drawing on construal-level theory, this study explored how a sense of psychological distance from an accident influences people’s willingness to help victims. We conducted a scenario experiment with a sample of 81 Japanese undergraduates. Participants were presented with a short scenario describing an accident that happened on either a distant or a nearby mountain. The results show that the greater the distance perceived by participants from the accident, the more likely they were to infer negative traits about the victim at an implicit level. However, the more they inferred negative traits at an implicit level, the more likely they were to attribute the cause of the accident to external situational factors, at an explicit level. Finally, explicit external causal attribution aroused greater sympathy for the victim, resulting in an increased willingness to help. This discrepancy between implicit and explicit inferences was discussed in terms of cognitive elaboration, in which people engage in helping behaviors when they feel responsible for the fate of the victim.

Regulatory focus and construal level theory on low-income consumer indebtedness: Evidence from an emerging market

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrícia de Oliveira Campos ◽  
Marconi Freitas da Costa
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Regulatory Focus ◽  
Task Complexity ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Psychological Distance ◽  
Construal Level Theory ◽  
Construal Level ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Low Income Consumers

PurposeThis study aims to further analyse the decision-making process of low-income consumer from an emerging market by verifying the influence of regulatory focus and construal level theory on indebtedness.Design/methodology/approachAn experimental study was carried out with a design 2 (regulatory focus: promotion vs prevention) × 2 (psychological distance: high vs low) between subjects, with 140 low-income consumers.FindingsOur study points out that the propensity towards indebtedness of low-income consumer is higher in a distal psychological distance. We found that promotion and prevention groups have the same propensity to indebtedness. Moreover, we highlight that low-income consumers are prone to propensity to indebtedness due to taking decisions focused on the present with an abstract mindset.Social implicationsFinancial awareness advertisements should focus on providing more concrete strategies in order to reduce decision-making complexity and provide ways to reduce competing situations that could deplete self-regulation resources. Also, public policy should organize educational programs to increase the low-income consumer's ability to deal with personal finances and reduce this task complexity. Finally, educational financial programs should also incorporate psychology professionals to teach mindfulness techniques applied to financial planning.Originality/valueThis study is the first to consider regulatory focus and construal level to explain low-income indebtedness. This paper provides a deeper analysis of the low-income consumers' decision process. Also, it supports and guides future academic and decision-making efforts.

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.

Effects of psychological distance perception and psychological factors on pro-environmental behaviors in Taiwan: Application of construal level theory

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mei-Fang Chen
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Psychological Factors ◽  
Distance Perception ◽  
Psychological Distance ◽  
Construal Level Theory ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Environmental Concerns ◽  
Construal Level ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Environmental Behaviors

This study applied construal level theory (CLT) to the perceived psychological distance of climate change to investigate Taiwanese people’s psychological distance perception of climate change. It also considered how this psychological distance perception of climate change and other crucial psychological factors (i.e., values, ecological worldviews, and environmental concerns) may influence people’s pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs). A national self-administered questionnaire survey was performed in Taiwan and 733 responses were analyzed empirically. Structural equation modeling analysis indicated that an individual’s altruistic values are positively related to his or her ecological worldviews. An individual’s ecological worldviews are positively related to his or her psychological distance perception of climate change and environmental concerns regarding the negative consequences of climate change. Such environmental concerns positively motivate engagement in PEBs. However, an individual’s psychological distance perception of climate change does not positively relate to his or her PEBs.

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.

Art Beyond Art’s Sake: The Influence of Artistic Cues on Prosocial Choice

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-40
Author(s):  
Dooiee Kim ◽  
Sang-Hoon Kim
Keyword(s):  
Choice Experiment ◽  
Psychological Distance ◽  
Construal Level Theory ◽  
Construal Level ◽  
The Relationship

In this study, we examined whether exposure to art can promote an abstract mindset. Specifically, based on construal level theory, we tested the relationship between artistic cues and an abstract mindset, and how this mindset could in turn impact prosocial choice. Experiment 1 ( N = 54) revealed that artistic cues lead participants to consider more abstract features than concrete features. In Experiment 2 ( N = 83), it was shown that the effect of artistic cues on an abstract mindset is mediated by psychological distance. In addition, this abstract mindset was shown to mediate the link between artistic cues and prosocial choice. The findings of this study highlight the mechanisms that extend the effects of art beyond preference to choice and thought.

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