In the present research, I apply a construal level framework to understanding when people gravitate towards all-at-once (e.g., four hours in one day, $100 lump-sum) versus distributed (one hour a day for four days, $20 per month for 5 months) philanthropy. I argue that more abstract construals increase the weight that people place on idealistic concerns, whereas more concrete construals increase the weight that people place on pragmatic concerns, and that people expect allocating time and money in an all-at-once versus distributed manner to satisfy idealistic and pragmatic concerns to different degrees. Chapter 1 of this dissertation focuses specifically on volunteerism and compliance to specific requests (i.e., an all-at-once or a distributed request, but not both). Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated people expected all-at-once and distributed volunteerism to satisfy idealistic and pragmatic concerns, respectively. The final two studies in Chapter 1 showed that situationally induced differences (Study 3) and individual differences (Study 4) in construal level were associated with behavioral compliance to a volunteer request. Specifically, people who adopted a more abstract construal were more likely to comply with an all-at-once (versus distributed) request. Conversely, people who adopted a more concrete construal were more likely to comply with a distributed (versus all-at-once) volunteer request. Chapter 2 explored the role of construal level in compliance with allocated monetary requests. Study 5 demonstrated that people expect all-at-once and distributed donations to satisfy idealistic and pragmatic concerns, respectively. Study 6 demonstrated that a real-world relevant manipulation of construal level influenced behavioral compliance to a donation request. Specifically, people who were led to adopt a more abstract construal were more likely to comply with an all-at-once (versus distributed) request, whereas people who were led to adopt a more concrete construal were more likely to comply with a distributed (versus all-at-once) donation request. Study 7 provided evidence that people’s baseline preference is for all-at-once requests, highlighting the utility of a more concrete construal in increasing receptivity to distributed requests. Finally, although many organizations do not offer a distributed donation option, Study 8 showed that it does not necessarily hurt an organization to include it among the options. However, preliminary evidence is inconclusive as to whether offering distributed contribution option can increase the likelihood and amount that people donate in the long run. Chapter 3 concludes the dissertation with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of the findings, as well as potential future research directions. / text

The present research examined how individuals’ cultural orientations influenced the relationship between their construal level and temporal distance. There were two studies in this research. Study 1 was composed of two parts. In the first part, the relationship between culture and construal level was examined through the Behavioral Identification Form (BIF). In the second part, the influence of culture on temporal distance and individuals’ construal level was investigated by analyzing participants’ descriptions of their lives. In study 2, the three-way interaction between culture, temporal distance, and the construal-level frame of persuasive messages (desirability vs. feasibility focused message) was investigated. A total of 200 students from two different countries (Korea and the U.S.) participated in the study. A fictitious brand and advertisement were created to examine the interaction. The findings revealed that individuals from an individualistic culture (U.S.) prefer abstract thinking to concrete thinking and focus more on the desirability than the feasibility of an event or object. And the reverse was true for individuals from a collectivistic culture (Korea). When individuals are in a proximal temporal condition, those from a collectivistic culture have a more proximal temporal perspective, and they are more likely to represent the future event in low-level terms. In contrast, individuals from an individualistic culture have a more distal temporal perspective and tend to represent the future event in high-level terms. Consistent results were found in an advertising context. When individuals from a collectivistic culture were in a proximal temporal condition, they tended to show a more favorable attitude toward the advertisement emphasizing the feasibility features of the product. The reverse was true for individuals from an individualistic culture. / text

Genom att använda reflex kan gångtrafikanten i mörkret upptäckas 100 meter tidigare av bilisten. Ändå används de inte. CLT rör hur mentala konstruktioner formas och hur individen rör sig mellan psykologiska distanser på abstrakta eller konkreta nivåer. Kognitiv dissonans innebär att beteenden ligger i konflikt vilket leder till obehag som behöver reduceras. En enkätundersökning med 120 deltagare genomfördes med syftet att se om individer inomhus i dagsljus förklarade sin frånvaro av reflexer abstrakt medan individer utomhus i mörker förklarade konkret. Resultatet visade inget stöd för detta men däremot att män hade en tendens att förklara sig mer abstrakt än kvinnor samtidigt som de använde reflexer mer sällan och ansåg dem vara mindre viktiga för säkerheten. Resultatdiskussionen gällde om frågorna i indelningarna av abstrakt och konkret är alltför olika. Dessutom diskuteras om den psykologiska distansen var för liten eller om kön avgör mer för typ av förklaring än miljön.

This research investigates the role of emotion in the persuasion process by establishing a novel relationship between emotion and construal level. Built on cognitive appraisal theories, this research proposes that the certainty appraisal components of emotions exert a direct influence on an individual’s representation of information at a high versus low construal level. The findings indicate that individuals primed to feel emotion low on certainty appraisals construe behaviors or events at a high level and estimate uncertain events as more likely to happen, while those primed to feel emotion high on certainty appraisals characterize behavior or events at a low level and evaluate uncertain events as less likely to occur (Study 1 & Study 2). Further, such a fit (vs. nonfit) between an individual’s emotional state and the construal level at which product benefits in an advertising message are represented lead to a more favorable evaluation of the message and product (Study 3). The findings from this dissertation study also illustrate that uncertainty-related emotion eliciting a high-level construal mindset leads to a cognitive shift toward relying more on nonalignable attribute differences and a greater preference for the nonalignable-better brand although individuals usually rely more on alignable attribute differences and favor the alignable-better brand (Study 4). Accordingly, these outcomes occur because the certainty appraisal components of emotions influence mental construal levels. / text

The current program of research investigated factors that influence students’ perceptions of everyday moral violations, as well as their own inclinations to engage in immoral behaviours. In Experiment 1, I demonstrated that participants’ evaluations of a hypothetical student who contemplated plagiarizing an assignment depended on both the choice that was ultimately made and the length of time spent deliberating about it (cf., Tetlock et al., 2000). Specifically, when participants were informed that the student ultimately elected to refrain from cheating, the length of time that this individual spent considering the decision had no impact on their subsequent behavioural or character evaluations. However, when participants were informed that the student had succumbed to the temptation to cheat, they evaluated the individual more harshly if the decision to cheat had been made after a period of deliberation than if the decision had been made blithely, without any forethought. Experiment 2 extended this program of research by showing that stable and transient variations in construal level interact to influence participants’ perceptions of students who engage in acts of plagiarism. Specifically, participants with low levels of personal agency evaluated a hypothetical student who had plagiarized an assignment relatively charitably, regardless of how they were prompted to construe the situation. Furthermore, these participants felt a greater affinity for the student after being induced to construe the student’s actions in low-level terms. On the other hand, participants with high levels of personal agency who were induced to construe the student’s actions in high-level terms were less positive in their evaluations, and also felt less of an affinity for the student. Experiment 3 assessed the extent to which stable and transient variations in construal level interact to predict actual cheating behaviour during an evaluative task. The results of this investigation revealed that priming participants with low levels of personal agency to adopt high-level construals lessened the incidence of cheating among members of this group. In sum, the results associated with the current program of research suggest that transient shifts in construal level interact with stable levels of personal agency to influence students’ perceptions of peers who engage in academic dishonesty. Furthermore, they provide evidence that these two factors play a role in the extent to which students behave dishonestly in evaluative settings themselves. Potential applications that could be derived from the current findings and possible avenues for future research are discussed. / Thesis (Ph.D, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2010-01-12 12:56:11.965

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.