Experimental Research on the Effect of Psychological Distance on Risky Choice Framing Effect

DUAN Jin-Yun; ZHU Ru-Long; CHEN Jing

PDF(266 KB)

Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2013, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (6) : 1404-1407.

Experimental Research on the Effect of Psychological Distance on Risky Choice Framing Effect

Author information +

History +

Abstract

Construal Level Theory (CLT) is a social cognitive theory which was used to account for how psychological distance affects thought and decision making. From the perspective of CLT, this study explored how psychological distance affects the likelihood of risky choice framing effect. The study examined the effects of CLT on risky choice framing effect by conducting a 2(construal level: high vs. low) × 2(task frame: positive vs. negative) between subject factorial experiment from four dimensions (time, space, social distance, and probability) of psychological distance. Each dimension has four situations. It includes 16 situations in all. Every participant should finish one of the situational questionnaires randomly. The results showed that effect of risky choice framing effect was more significant in the high construal level condition than the low construal level condition. Specifically, participants in high-level construal condition conduct abstract processing and show more significant framing effect. Participants in low-level construal condition, in contrast, focus on concrete message and are more sensitive to the frame message. In addition to case of the high probability, risky choice framing effect was significant in each condition of the rest dimensions, which reflect the stability of framing effect. The outcome is consistent with our hypotheses. The results of this study provided evidence of the close connection between CLT and framing effect. In sum, construal level can influence the risky choice framing effect. Future study should pay attention to the mechanism of this interesting phenomenon.

Key words

construal level theory / framing effect / psychological distance / risk decision-making

Cite this article

EndNote

Ris (Procite)

Bibtex

Download Citations

Experimental Research on the Effect of Psychological Distance on Risky Choice Framing Effect[J]. Journal of Psychological Science. 2013, 36(6): 1404-1407

References

[1]段锦云, & 王重鸣 . 框架效应认知加工的脑半球定位研究 [J].心理科学,2010,33(1):8-11 [2]柴俊武, 赵广志, & 何伟.解释水平对品牌联想和品牌延伸评估的影响[J].心理学报,2011,43(2):175-187 [3]李纾, 房永青, & 张迅捷 (2000).再探框架对风险决策行为的影响.心理学报.32(2), 229-234 [4]钟赟 (2008). 风险决策中青少年的框架效应研究. 硕士学位论文. 江西师范大学 [5]Bar-Anan, Y., Liberman, N., & Trope, Y. (2006). The association between psychological distance and construal level: Evidence from an implicit association test. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 135(4), 609 [6]Bartels, D. M., & Burnett, R. C..A group construal account of drop-in-the-bucket thinking in policy preference and moral judgment[J].Journal of Experimental Social Psychology,2011,47(1):50-57 [7]Chandran, S., & Menon, G..When a day means more than a 2004: Effects of temporal framing on judgments of health risk[J].Journal of Consumer Research,2004,31(2):375-389 [8]Fujita, K., Henderson, D. M., Eng, J., Trope, Y., & Liberman, N..Spatial distance and mental construal of social events[J].Psychological Science,2006,17(4):278-282 [9]Henderson, M. D., Trope, Y., & Carnevale, P. J. (2006). Negotiation from a near and distant time perspective. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(4), 712 [10]Igou, E. R., & Bless, H..On undesirable consequences of thinking: Framing effects as a function of substantive processing[J].Journal of Behavioral Decision Making,2007,20(2):125-142 [11]Levin, I. P., Schneider, S. L., & Gaeth, G. J. (1998). All frames are not created equal: A typology and critical analysis of framing effects. Organizational behavior and human decision processes, 76, 149-188 [12]Leny-Meyers, J., & Maheswaran, D..Exploring message framing outcomes when systematic, heuristic or both types of processing occur[J].Journal of Consumer Psychology,2004,14:159-167 [13]Liberman, N., & Trope, Y. (1998). The role of feasibility and desirability considerations in near and distant future decisions: A test of temporal construal theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75(1), 5 [14]Liberman, N., & Trope, Y..The psychology of transcending the here and now[J].Science,2008,322:1201-1205 [15]Liberman, N., Trope, Y., & Stephan, E. (2007). Psychological distance [16]Malkoc, S. A., & Zauberman, G..Deferring versus Expediting Consumption: The Effect of Outcome Concreteness on Sensitivity to Time Horizon[J].Journal of Marketing Research. 4,2006,(12):618-27 [17]McElroy, T., & Seta, J. J. (2003). Framing effects: An analytic-holistic perspective. Journal of experimental social psychology. 39, 610-617 [18]McElroy, T., & Seta, J. J..Does it matter if it involves my group[J].How the importance of collective-esteem influences a group-based framing task. Social Cognition,2003,24:319-333 [19]McElroy, T., & Mascari, D..When is it going to happen? How temporal distance influence processing for risky-choice framing tasks[J].Social cognition,2007,25(4):495-517 [20]Plous, S. (2004). 决策与判断: The psychology of judgment and decision making: 人民邮电出版社 [21]Sieck, W., & Yates, J. F..Exposition effects on decision making: Choice and confidence in choice[J].Organizational behavior and human decision processes,1997,70(3):207-219 [22]Simon, A. F., Fagley, N. S., & Halleran, J. G..Decision framing: Moderating effects of individual differences and cognitive processing[J].Journal of Behavioral Decision Making,2004,17(2):77-93 [23]Steul, M..Does the framing of investment portfolios influence risk-taking behavior? Some experimental results[J].Journal of economic psychology,2006,27(4):557-570 [24]Trope, Y., & Liberman, N. (2003). Temporal construal. Psychological review, 110(3), 403 [25]Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D..The framing of decisions and the psychology of choice[J].Science,1981,211(1):453-458 [26]Vallacher, R. R., & Wegner, D. M. (1987). What do people think they're doing? Action identification and human behavior. Psychological review, 94(1), 3 [27]Wakslak, C. J., Trope, Y., Liberman, N., & Alony, R. (2006). Seeing the forest when entry is unlikely: Probability and the mental representation of events. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 135(4), 641 [28]Wang, X. T., Simons, F., & Brédart, S..Social cues and verbal framing in risky choice[J].Journal of Behavioral Decision Making,2001,14(1):1-15 [29]Wang, X. T..Emotions within reason: Resolving conflicts in risk preference[J].Cognition and Emotion,2006,20(8):1132-1152 [30]Williams, L. E., & Bargh, J. A. (2008). Keeping One's Distance. Psychological Science, 19(3), 302