Effects of psychological distance on assessment of severity of water pollution

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.

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Replication of Experiments Evaluating Impact of Psychological Distance on Moral Judgment

Social Psychology ◽

10.1027/1864-9335/a000188 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 45 (3) ◽

pp. 223-231 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

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.

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Psychological Distance Promotes Exploration in Search of a Global Maximum

10.31234/osf.io/agbp9 ◽

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.

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Psychological Distance Promotes Exploration in Search of a Global Maximum

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin ◽

10.1177/0146167218799309 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 45 (6) ◽

pp. 893-906 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

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.

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Psychological distance promotes transcending of local maxima

10.31234/osf.io/phjxg ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Daniel Alexander Yudkin

Keyword(s):

Exploratory Behavior ◽

Social Distance ◽

Local Maximum ◽

Psychological Distance ◽

Construal Level Theory ◽

Global Maximum ◽

Local Maxima ◽

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.

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