Abstract Construal Level and its Link to Self-Control and to Cross-Situational Consistency in Self-Concept: Predicting Health-Risk Behavioral Intentions

Sedano, Itziar Fernández; Caballero, Amparo; Muñoz, Dolores; Aguilar, Pilar Corrales; Carrera, Pilar

doi:10.1017/sjp.2018.43

Cited by 11 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…This difference between short-term and long-term preferences connects directly to construal-level research, where psychological distance is one of the main factors that determines what information is considered to mentally represent a behavior and thus the behavioral decision. CLT findings consistently support that an abstract mindset implies prioritizing the final goals of the actions, rather than the immediate results, which promotes greater self-control and healthier behaviors in the long term (Carrera et al, 2018;Chiou et al, 2012;Fernández et al, 2018;Fujita, 2008;Fujita & Han, 2009;Fujita et al, 2006;Sweeney & Freitas, 2014;Trope & Liberman, 2000). While an abstract style of thinking is associated with healthier choices, a concrete style favors risk behaviors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

Does poverty promote a different and harmful way of thinking? The links between economic scarcity, concrete construal level and risk behaviors

et al. 2021

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We tested the relationships between economic scarcity, concrete construal level and risk behaviors. We manipulated the lack of economic resources using a priming task in Studies 1 and 2, and participants reported their real income and completed the BIF scale to measure their construal level in Study 3. Studies 1–3 supported the link between perceived economic scarcity and the concrete construal level. Study 4 demonstrated the mediating role played by the concrete construal level in the influence of economic scarcity on risk behaviors using two opposite priming procedures (scarcity plus abstraction). Study 5, in a real context of economic vulnerability, supported the link between concrete mindset and risk behavioral intentions, while abstraction was associated with fewer risk intentions. Concrete thinking implies focusing on the immediate situation, which might facilitate adaptation to the demanding conditions that characterize scarcity contexts but leaves people without a broad perspective of the future to make safe decisions in situations that involve self-control, such as health-risk behaviors. Because an abstract construal level can be induced, these findings open up challenging ways to improve the conditions in which people in scarcity contexts make some behavioral decisions while we continue working to reduce situations of economic scarcity.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

Does poverty promote a different and harmful way of thinking? The links between economic scarcity, concrete construal level and risk behaviors

et al. 2021

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“…The lack of attention to immediate benefits requires important cognitive and affective efforts that individuals with an abstract style of thinking seem to carry out more easily. Accordingly, an abstract mindset promotes a stronger focus on final goals than on present means, facilitating self-control [9,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. Following our example about snacking, a person thinking abstractly will probably choose a healthy snack (e.g., a piece of fruit), while a person thinking concretely will probably choose the most readily available and delicious option (e.g., a chocolate bar).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Relationships between Economic Scarcity, Concrete Mindset and Risk Behavior: A Study of Nicaraguan Adolescents

Aguilar

Caballero

Sevillano

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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Background: Nicaragua is one of the poorest countries in Latin America, with an extremely low human development index (HDI). Fifty-two percent of the Nicaraguan population are children and adolescents under 18 years of age. Nicaraguan adolescents present several risk behaviors (such as teenage pregnancies, consumption of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis). Our study examines the links between risk behaviors, fatalism, real economic scarcity, and concrete construal level for adolescents with low and middle-low socioeconomic status in Nicaragua. Methods: Nicaraguan adolescents (N = 834) from schools located in especially vulnerable areas (low economic status) or in neighborhoods with middle-low social class completed several scales and questions to evaluate fatalism (SFC—social fatalism scale), construal level (BIF) and their past and future risk behaviors (smoking cigarettes, smoking cannabis, unsafe sex, and alcohol consumption). Results: We identified that the poorest individuals who maintained a concrete style of thinking had the highest rates of past and future risk behaviors. This vulnerable group also reported the highest levels of fatalism, i.e., negative attitudes and feelings of helplessness. Encouragingly, the adolescents who were able to maintain an abstract mindset reported healthier past and future habits and lower fatalism, even when they belonged to the lowest social status. In the middle-low economic group, the construal level was not as relevant to maintaining healthy habits, as adolescents reported similar rates of past and future risk behavior at both construal levels. Conclusions: All these results support the importance of considering construal level when studying vulnerable populations and designing risk prevention programs.

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“…The reasons may involve several aspects: Individuals with high construal level are more tolerant to mixed emotions and are more likely to adopt flexible and creative processing methods (Förster et al, 2004). They are more willing to choose desirable but demanding actions (Carrera et al, 2020) and have better self-control (Fernández et al, 2018). The increase in psychological distance induced by high construal level can also alleviate the intensity and vividness of mixed emotions experienced by people (Wong and Bagozzi, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does Goal Conflict Necessarily Undermine Wellbeing? A Moderated Mediating Effect of Mixed Emotion and Construal Level

et al. 2021

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Development occurs through the process of setting and working toward goals, in which individuals are often working toward multiple goals that are likely to conflict with one another. Although motivation theories hold that goal conflict is a kind of potential stress that may damage individuals’ mental health and wellbeing, the empirical research results on the relationship between goal conflict and wellbeing are quite different. There may be unknown factors affecting the relationship between the two. Against this background, we conducted the exploration of the relationship between goal conflict and life satisfaction, mainly by analyzing the moderated mediating effect of mixed emotions and construal level. The results showed that the goal conflict did not directly affect life satisfaction (β = −0.01, p > 0.5) but indirectly influenced life satisfaction through mixed emotions (β = −0.17, p < 0.001). The construal level moderated the relationship between mixed emotions and life satisfaction (β = −0.08, p < 0.01), and the higher construal level will predict higher life satisfaction especially when mixed emotions were low (M − SD) or medium (M). Therefore, the hypothesis of moderated mediating effect is verified, and we can draw the following conclusions: (1) Goal conflict does not necessarily impair life satisfaction. (2) Goal conflict impairs life satisfaction conditional on the fact that it triggers mixed emotions. Since mixed emotions are often accompanied by feelings of ambivalence and discomfort, they reduce the individual’s evaluation of life satisfaction. (3) In the path of goal conflict reducing life satisfaction through mixed emotions, the higher construal level mitigates the adverse effects of mixed emotions to some extent.

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Abstract Construal Level and its Link to Self-Control and to Cross-Situational Consistency in Self-Concept: Predicting Health-Risk Behavioral Intentions

Cited by 11 publications

References 36 publications

Does poverty promote a different and harmful way of thinking? The links between economic scarcity, concrete construal level and risk behaviors

Does poverty promote a different and harmful way of thinking? The links between economic scarcity, concrete construal level and risk behaviors

The Relationships between Economic Scarcity, Concrete Mindset and Risk Behavior: A Study of Nicaraguan Adolescents

Does Goal Conflict Necessarily Undermine Wellbeing? A Moderated Mediating Effect of Mixed Emotion and Construal Level

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