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.
Construal level theory proposes that temporal distance changes people's responses to future events by changing the way people mentally represent those events. The greater the temporal distance, the more likely are events to be represented in terms of a few abstract features that convey the perceived essence of the events (high-level construals) rather than in terms of more concrete and incidental details of the events (low-level construals). The informational and evaluative implications of high-level construals, compared with those of low-level construals, should therefore have more impact on responses to distant-future events than near-future events. This article explores the implications of construal level theory for temporal changes in evaluation, prediction, and choice. The authors suggest that construal level underlies a broad range of evaluative and behavioral consequences of psychological distance from events.
Temporal construal theory states that distant future situations are construed on a higher level (i.e., using more abstract and central features) than near future situations. Accordingly, the theory suggests that the value associated with the high-level construal is enhanced over delay and that the value associated with the low-level construal is discounted over delay. In goal-directed activities, desirability of the activity's end state represents a high-level construal, whereas the feasibility of attaining this end state represents a low-level construal. Study 1 found that distant future activities were construed on a higher level than near future activities. Studies 2 and 3 showed that decisions regarding distant future activities, compared with decisions regarding near future activities, were more influenced by the desirability of the end state and less influenced by the feasibility of attaining the end state. Study 4 presented students with a real-life choice of academic assignments varying in difficulty (feasibility) and interest (desirability). In choosing a distant future assignment, students placed relatively more weight on the assignment's interest, whereas in choosing a near future assignment, they placed relatively more weight on difficulty. Study 5 found that distant future plans, compared with near future plans, were related to desirability of activities rather than to time constraints.In everyday life, people judge and make decisions about events that will take place either in the relatively near future or in the distant future. For example, one may need to decide whether to take a vacation, give a lecture, or attend a conference a few months in advance or just a few days in advance. This article addresses the question of how temporal distance from an event affects people's decisions regarding that event. We argue that distant future events are construed on a higher level (i.e., by using more central and abstract features of the event) than near future events. Therefore, decisions regarding distant future events are likely to be based on relatively central and abstract features of events, whereas decisions regarding near future events are likely to be based on more incidental and concrete features of events. We report a series of five studies that tested this hypothesis in a variety of decision situations. Time-Dependent Changes in Value and ExpectanciesPast research on the psychological effects of temporal distance has been mainly concerned with time-dependent changes
The authors propose that self-control involves making decisions and behaving in a manner consistent with high-level versus low-level construals of a situation. Activation of high-level construals (which capture global, superordinate, primary features of an event) should lead to greater self-control than activation of low-level construals (which capture local, subordinate, secondary features). In 6 experiments using 3 different techniques, the authors manipulated construal levels and assessed their effects on self-control and underlying psychological processes. High-level construals led to decreased preferences for immediate over delayed outcomes, greater physical endurance, stronger intentions to exert self-control, and less positive evaluations of temptations that undermine self-control. These results support a construal-level analysis of self-control.
Construal level theory (CLT) is an account of how psychological distance influences individuals' thoughts and behavior. CLT assumes that people mentally construe objects that are psychologically near in terms of low-level, detailed, and contextualized features, whereas at a distance they construe the same objects or events in terms of high-level, abstract, and stable characteristics. Research has shown that different dimensions of psychological distance (time, space, social distance, and hypotheticality) affect mental construal and that these construals, in turn, guide prediction, evaluation, and behavior. The present paper reviews this research and its implications for consumer psychology.One of the primary aims of consumer psychology is to understand the way in which individuals evaluate objects and events. Numerous studies have led to an understanding that evaluations are driven not only by the quality and desirability of an object, but also by a variety of less central factors. What, then, determines the type of factors that will be most influential in determining choice at any given point? Construal level theory (CLT), a recent framework linking distance and abstraction, suggests that psychological distance is one important determinant of whether primary, essential characteristics or secondary, peripheral characteristics are used as the basis of evaluation. The current paper describes this framework in more detail, explaining its basic theoretical approach and reviewing a range of related empirical findings. We begin by providing more precise definitions of the terms "level of construal" and "psychological distance," and then use these constructs to examine shifts in representation, prediction, evaluation, and behavior. LEVEL OF CONSTRUALAccording to CLT, individuals use concrete, low-level construals to represent near events and abstract, high-level construals to represent distant events. Low-level construals are relatively unstructured, contextualized representations that include subordinate and incidental features of events. Highlevel construals, in contrast, are schematic, decontextualized representations that extract the gist from the available information. These construals consist of a few superordinate core features of events. Thus, whereas representations of near future events are rich in details, some of which are incidental or peripheral, representations of distant events achieve abstraction by omitting secondary and incidental features.Consider, for example, two children playing catch with a ball in a backyard. A low-level construal of this activity might include such details as the age of the children, the color of the ball, and the temperature outside. In contrast, a high-level construal of this activity might simply be "having fun." Note what happens when we move from one depiction to the other. The high-level construal, "having fun," disregards the unique features of the event and involves an implicit decision about which features are central to the Correspondence should be addressed to Yaaco...
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