Effects of Psychological Distance on Mental Abstraction: A Registered Report of Four Tests of Construal-Level TheoryLinnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden.
Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey.
University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.
Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada; University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Magna-Graecia University of Catanzaro, Calabria, Italy.
Lancaster University, Lancaster, England.
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Catholic University of Louvain at Louvain-la-Neuve, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
SWPS University, Warszaw, Poland.
Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, USA.
Leuphana University Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Germany.
North Central College, Naperville, Illinois, USA.
Purchase College, SUNY, Plattsburgh, New York, USA.
University of Burgos, Burgos, Spain.
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, USA.
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
SUNY Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh, New York, USA.
Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, USA.
Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands.
University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Catholic University of Louvain at Louvain-la-Neuve, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Leuphana University Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Germany.
University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, USA.
Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
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Number of Authors: 1762026 (English)In: Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, ISSN 2515-2459, E-ISSN 2515-2467, Vol. 9, no 2, article id 25152459251401177Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Construal-level theory (CLT) proposes that psychological distance influences the level of abstraction at which somethingis mentally construed: Things perceived as less probable (likelihood) or further away from the here (spatial distance),now (temporal distance), or self (social distance) are thought about more abstractly. In this international multilab study,we tested four basic hypotheses derived from core assumptions of CLT and explore potential moderators and boundaryconditions of the effects. Participants (N = 11,775) from 27 countries and regions were randomly assigned to one of fourexperimental protocols focused on different types of psychological distance (temporal, spatial, social, or likelihood),and each experiment manipulated psychological distance (close vs. distant). The protocols for temporal distance (n =2,941) and spatial distance (n = 2,973) were direct replications of Liberman and Trope (Study 1) and Fujita et al. (Study1), respectively. The remaining two protocols were paradigmatic replications, applying to social distance (n = 2,926)and likelihood (n = 2,936). The effects of psychological distance on construal level for the four present studies were asfollows (positive effects are consistent with hypotheses): temporal, d = 0.08, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.003, 0.16](effect in original study: d = 0.92); spatial, d = 0.04, 95% CI = [−0.03, 0.11] (effect in original study: d = 0.55); social, d= −0.27, 95% CI = [−0.34, −0.19]; and likelihood, d = 0.03, 95% CI = [−0.05, 0.11]. Pretests indicated that valence andabstraction were confounded in response options on the outcome measure. Controlling for this confound eliminatedthe hypothesis-inconsistent effect of social distance, d = 0.006, 95% CI = [−0.05, 0.07]. These findings provide limitedevidence for the predictions of the theory and present a critical challenge for CLT.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
SAGE Publications , 2026. Vol. 9, no 2, article id 25152459251401177
Keywords [en]
Construal-level theory, Mental abstraction, Psychological distance, Replication, Multilab, Open data, Open materials, Preregistration
National Category
Economics Psychology (Excluding Applied Psychology)
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-223026DOI: 10.1177/25152459251401177ISI: 001754340200001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105036429491OAI: oai:DiVA.org:liu-223026DiVA, id: diva2:2054258
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2019-03037
Note
Funding: Swedish Research Council [2019-03037]; Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation [MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033]; Fondos Europeos de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) [PID2022-138665NB-I00, PID2022-137614NB-I00, PID2022-142583NB-I00, CEX2023-001312-M, UCE-PP2023-11]; Australian Research Council [DP190101675, DE240100001]; Slovak Research and Development Agency [APVV-22-0458, APVV-23-0548]; Wesleyan University Grant in Support of Scholarship (GISOS); Swiss National Science Foundation [PZ00P1_216373 / 1]; James Cook University (Singapore Campus) [IRG20230006]; National Key R&D Program of China [2021ZD0204200]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [32071045]; Shenzhen Fundamental Research Program [JCYJ20210324134603010]; John Templeton Foundation [62631]; Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province [ZR2022MC211]
2026-04-202026-04-202026-06-27