How far is the suffering? The role of psychological distance and victims\u2019 identifiability in donation decisions

We are regularly told about people at various locations around the globe, both near and far, who are in distress or in dire need. In the present research, we examined how the prospective donor\u2019s psychological distance from a given victim may interact with the victim\u2019s identification to determine the donor\u2019s willingness to accede to requests for donations to help the victim in question. In three studies, we measured willingness to donate (Studies 1 & 2) and actual donations (Study 3) to identified or unidentified victims, while measuring (Study 1) or manipulating (Studies 2 & 3) the psychological distance between prospective donors and the recipients. Results indicate that increasing the psychological distance between prospective donors and victims decreases willingness to help \u2014 but only when the victims are unidentified, not when they are identified. This suggests that victim\u2019s identification mitigates the effect of distance on donor\u2019s willingness to help

How goal-fulfillment decreases aggression

"We suggest that the goal to aggress increases accessibility of aggressive thoughts, and that after goal-fulfillment, accessibility of aggressive content is reduced. Experiment 1 showed an increase in accessibility of aggression after imagining an aggression-eliciting situation compared to non-aggressive content. After goal-fulfillment the accessibility of aggression was reduced, regardless of whether fulfillment was achieved by imagining physical or symbolic revenge. Experiment 2 showed similar effects for a non-aggressive conflict-resolution and, in addition, demonstrated a post-fulfillment reduction in actual aggressive behavior. Experiment 3 demonstrated that aggressive acts that do not constitute goal-fulfillment instead increase accessibility of aggression. Relations between our model and previous views on catharsis of aggression are discussed." [author's abstract

Abstract Thinking Facilitates Aggregation of Information

Many situations in life (such as considering which stock to invest in, or which people to befriend) require averaging across series of values. Here, we examined predictions derived from construal level theory, and tested whether abstract compared with concrete thinking facilitates the process of aggregating values into a unified summary representation. In four experiments, participants were induced to think more abstractly (vs. concretely) and performed different variations of an averaging task with numerical values (Experiments 1–2 and 4), and emotional faces (Experiment 3). We found that the induction of abstract, compared with concrete thinking, improved aggregation accuracy (Experiments 1–3), but did not improve memory for specific items (Experiment 4). In particular, in concrete thinking, averaging was characterized by increased regression toward the mean and lower signal-to-noise ratio, compared with abstract thinking

ATTITUDES AND SOCIAL COGNITION Construal Levels and Self-Control

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 selfcontrol, and less positive evaluations of temptations that undermine self-control. These results support a construal-level analysis of self-control

The role of feasibility and desirability considerations in near and distant future decisions: A test of temporal construal theory

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 abou

Temporal construal and time-dependent changes in preference

Five studies tested the predictions of temporal construal theory and time-discounting theories regarding evaluation of near future and distant future options (outcomes, activities, products). The options had abstract or goal-relevant features (called high-level construal features) as well as more concrete or goal-irrelevant features (called low-level construal features). The studies varied the valence (positive vs. negative) and the type of valence (affective vs. cognitive) of the low-level and high-level construal features. The results show that the weight of high-level construal features, compared to the weight of low-construal features, is greater in determining distant future preferences than near future preferences. The implications of the results for extant theories of time-dependent changes in preference are discussed