Major study challenges popular theory about how distance shapes thinking

<p>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.</p>