scholarly journals Economic situation and time discounting: Does construal level matter?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matus Adamkovic ◽  
Pavol Kačmár ◽  
Marcel Martončik ◽  
Peter Babincak

A promising factor for explaining the relationship between economic situation and time preferences is one's construal level (i.e., the abstractness/concreteness of thinking). In this preregistered experiment, we examined the effects of construal level manipulation on time discounting and additionally examined the relationships between the economic situation and time discounting in tasks involving both real incentives and hypothetical rewards. Although we found small effects of construal level manipulation on one's time preferences, we remain skeptical about the findings and offer alternative explanations. Further replication attempts on this topic are very much needed.

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (22) ◽  
pp. 6160-6165 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Åkerlund ◽  
Bart H. H. Golsteyn ◽  
Hans Grönqvist ◽  
Lena Lindahl

One of the most basic predictions of almost any model of crime is that individual time preferences matter. However, empirical evidence on this fundamental property is essentially nonexistent. To our knowledge, this paper provides the first pieces of evidence on the link between time discounting and crime. We use a unique dataset that combines a survey-based measure of time discount rates (at age 13) with detailed longitudinal register data on criminal behavior spanning over 18 y. Our results show that individuals with short time horizons have a significantly higher risk of criminal involvement later in life. The magnitude of the relationship is substantial and corresponds to roughly one-third of the association between intelligence and crime.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniele Scarpi

AbstractSeveral studies in consumer behavior have focused on consumers’ shopping orientation in terms of hedonic and utilitarian shopping. The present research advances a different perspective examining hedonic and utilitarian shopping orientations with the theoretical lenses of construal-level theory. Results from two studies indicate that hedonism relates to higher and utilitarianism to lower construal levels (Study 1). Consequently, individuals tend to prefer desirability-related options when shopping hedonically, and feasibility-related options when shopping in a utilitarian way (Study 2). The findings further show a moderating effect of construal level on the relationship between shopping orientation and choice, consistent with construal-level theory.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofia Calderon ◽  
Erik Mac Giolla ◽  
Karl Ask ◽  
Pär Anders Granhag

C. J. Wakslak, Y. Trope, N. Liberman, and R. Alony (2006), Seeing the forest when entry is unlikely: Probability and the mental representation of events, Journal of experimental psychology: General, examined the effect of manipulating the likelihood of future events on level of construal (i.e., mental abstraction). Over seven experiments, they consistently found that subjectively unlikely (vs. likely) future events were more abstractly (vs. concretely) construed. This well-cited, but understudied finding has had a major influence on the CLT literature: Likelihood is considered to be one of four psychological distances assumed to influence mental abstraction in similar ways (Trope & Liberman, 2010). Contrary to the original empirical findings, we present two close replication attempts (N = 115 and N = 120; the original studies had N = 20 and N = 34) which failed to find the effect of likelihood on construal level. Bayesian analyses provided diagnostic support for the absence of an effect. In light of the failed replications, we present a meta-analytic summary of the accumulated evidence on the effect. It suggests a strong trend of declining effect sizes as a function of larger samples. These results call into question the previous conclusion that likelihood has a reliable influence on construal level. We discuss the implications of these findings for construal level theory, and advise against treating likelihood as a psychological distance until further tests have established the relationship.


2020 ◽  
pp. 31-35
Author(s):  
Maria Kudryavtseva

The article examines the relationship between the social policy of the state and the Institute of social work. Some foreign and domestic approaches to defi ning the essence of social work as a specifi c type of activity are presented. It is noted that at a specifi c historical stage, the prevailing directions of social work, models of social assistance and support are determined by the socio-economic situation in the country, the level of social development, and the socio-cultural context. It is emphasized that in the conditions of modern reality, there is a need to develop the Institute of social work and realize its potential.


2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (12) ◽  
pp. 2681-2703 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuemei Liu ◽  
Zhiwei Zhu ◽  
Zheng Liu ◽  
Chunyan Fu

PurposeThis study, based on construal level theory, aims to examine the influential mechanism of leader empowerment behaviour on employee creativity. Specifically, it examines the mediating role of cognitive flexibility between leader empowerment behaviour and employee creativity, along with the moderating effect of consideration of future consequences (CFC) on this linkage.Design/methodology/approachA two time-point survey study (n = 214) was conducted to collect information from leaders and employees in terms of mutual evaluation in several Chinese industries. To effectively avoid common source bias, this survey was conducted through pairing leaders and employees. During the survey, the supervisors and subordinates were double-blinded. Correlation analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were used to test the research hypotheses.FindingsFirstly, leader empowerment behaviour can significantly predict employee creativity. Second, cognitive flexibility plays a partial mediating role in the linkage between leader empowerment behaviour and employee creativity. Thirdly, CFC moderates the relationship between leadership empowerment behaviour and cognitive flexibility. The mediating role of cognitive flexibility underlies the overall moderating effect of CFC on the relationship between leader empowerment behaviour and employee creativity.Research limitations/implicationsWe used construal level theory to explain the influence of the mechanism of leader empowerment behaviour on employee creativity. In this manner, this study bridges the gap between theory and practice, as well as enriching the research on leader empowerment behaviour and employee creativity, especially in the Chinese context. Moreover, our study has several practical managerial implications, based on the importance of employee creativity. It inspires the implementation of leader empowerment behaviour, cultivation of employee creativity and introduction of several procedures.Originality/valueThis paper discusses the influential mechanism of leader empowerment behaviour on employee creativity from a new perspective and explains the process of encouraging employee creativity through information-processing methods. It mainly highlights the application of construal level theory to discuss employee creativity and develops a new research frame for employee creativity. Leaders can raise employee creativity through leader empowerment behaviour.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-120
Author(s):  
Sinan Alper

The literature on construal-level theory has provided a rich but complex set of findings regarding how abstract and concrete construals affect moral and political attitudes. One set of findings suggests that abstractness sharpens and polarizes moral and political judgments, whereas other findings suggest the opposite. In this article, I first review and explain both sets of findings. Second, I argue that it is possible to reconcile seemingly contradictory results by considering (a) the interpersonal variation in core values, (b) the confounding effects of utilitarian and deontological thinking styles, and (c) potentially different effects of different manipulations of abstractness. I conclude by arguing that consideration of these factors would resolve the complexity in the relationship between construal levels and moral and political attitudes.


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