Approach and Avoidance as Organizing Structures for Motivated Distance Perception

Balcetis, Emily

doi:10.1177/1754073915586225

Cited by 56 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 119 publications

(176 reference statements)

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“…The possibility of spatial distortions of reconstructive memory due to higher level information has been shown in egocentric frames. For example, the judged distance between one person and another in egocentric space can be modulated by psychosocial factors, such as the relationship of the individuals (e.g., Thomas, Davoli & Brockmole, 2014), as well as whether a person has previously been socially rejected (Knowles, Green & Weidel, 2013; for a review, see Balcetis, 2015).…”

Section: Experiments 2: Social Binding Effects On Short-term Spatial Mmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bound together: Social binding leads to faster processing, spatial distortion, and enhanced memory of interacting partners.

Vestner¹,

Tipper²,

Hartley³

et al. 2019

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

123

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The binding of features into perceptual wholes is a well-established phenomenon, which has previously only been studied in the context of early vision and low-level features, such as colour or proximity. We hypothesised that a similar binding process, based on higher level information, could bind people into interacting groups, facilitating faster processing and enhanced memory of social situations. To investigate this possibility we used three experimental approaches to explore grouping effects in displays involving interacting people. First, using a visual search task we demonstrate more rapid processing for interacting (versus non-interacting) pairs in an odd-quadrant paradigm (Experiments 1a & 1b). Second, using a spatial judgment task, we show that interacting individuals are remembered as physically closer than are non-interacting individuals (Experiments 2a & 2b). Finally, we show that memory retention of grouprelevant and irrelevant features is enhanced when recalling interacting partners in a surprise memory task (Experiments 3a & 3b). Each of these results is consistent with the social binding hypothesis, and alternative explanations based on low level perceptual features and attentional effects are ruled out. We conclude that automatic mid-level grouping processes bind individuals into groups on the basis of their perceived interaction. Such social binding could provide the basis for more sophisticated social processing. Identifying the automatic encoding of social interactions in visual search, distortions of spatial working memory, and facilitated retrieval of object properties from longer-term memory, opens new approaches to studying social cognition with possible practical applications.

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Section: Experiments 2: Social Binding Effects On Short-term Spatial Mmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bound together: Social binding leads to faster processing, spatial distortion, and enhanced memory of interacting partners.

Vestner¹,

Tipper²,

Hartley³

et al. 2019

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

123

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The evidence across multiple disciplines suggests that distance perception is inherently connected to social experiences that evoke strong emotions (e.g., Balcetis, 2016;Van Boven, Kane, McGraw, & Dale, 2010;Williams & Bargh, 2008). However, little research has been conducted to examine the possible interactive influences of different dimensions of emotion on psychological distance.…”

Section: Emotion and Psychological Distancementioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of emotional valence on perceived psychological distance depends on emotional intensity

Mei

Li²,

Wang

2018

Euro J Social Psych

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Previous findings regarding the relationship between emotional valence and psychological distance were mixed. The current research examined whether emotional intensity moderates the influence of emotional valence on psychological distance. We manipulated intensity and valence by asking participants to describe a positive or negative event from either a high intensity or low intensity perspective. Studies 1 and 2 revealed that negative events were perceived to be more distant than positive events in the low‐intensity condition in two distinct cultural groups. Study 3 further proved that the obtained patterns were generalizable to different emotions. Finally, Study 4 found that a reduced alert level, but not perceived threats, mediated the interactive effects of valence and intensity on psychological distance. This research highlights the importance of considering the joint effect of different dimensions of emotion, thus advancing the understanding of complex processes of emotion.

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“…Other studies have documented visual biases associated with more cognitive factors, including action affordances (Witt 2011), motivation (Balcetis 2016), and language (Lupyan 2012). For example, when people reach for an object with a tool that allows them to reach farther, they report the object as looking closer than when they reach without the tool ( Fig.…”

Section: Cognition-based Biasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

When the simplest voluntary decisions appear patently suboptimal

Salinas¹,

Seideman²,

Stanford³

2018

Behav Brain Sci

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Rahnev & Denison (R&D) catalog numerous experiments in which performance deviates, often in subtle ways, from the theoretical ideal. We discuss an extreme case, an elementary behavior (reactive saccades to single targets) for which a simple contextual manipulation results in responses that are dramatically different from those expected based on reward maximization – and yet are highly informative and amenable to mechanistic examination.

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Approach and Avoidance as Organizing Structures for Motivated Distance Perception

Cited by 56 publications

References 119 publications

Bound together: Social binding leads to faster processing, spatial distortion, and enhanced memory of interacting partners.

Bound together: Social binding leads to faster processing, spatial distortion, and enhanced memory of interacting partners.

Influence of emotional valence on perceived psychological distance depends on emotional intensity

When the simplest voluntary decisions appear patently suboptimal

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