Results 1 - 10
of
169
Construal-Level Theory of Psychological Distance
, 2010
"... People are capable of thinking about the future, the past, remote locations, another person’s perspective, and counterfactual alternatives. Without denying the uniqueness of each process, it is proposed that they constitute different forms of traversing psychological distance. Psychological distance ..."
Abstract
-
Cited by 158 (6 self)
- Add to MetaCart
(Show Context)
People are capable of thinking about the future, the past, remote locations, another person’s perspective, and counterfactual alternatives. Without denying the uniqueness of each process, it is proposed that they constitute different forms of traversing psychological distance. Psychological distance is egocentric: Its reference point is the self in the here and now, and the different ways in which an object might be removed from that point—in time, in space, in social distance, and in hypotheticality—constitute different distance dimensions. Transcending the self in the here and now entails mental construal, and the farther removed an object is from direct experience, the higher (more abstract) the level of construal of that object. Supporting this analysis, research shows (a) that the various distances are cognitively related to each other, (b) that they similarly influence and are influenced by level of mental construal, and (c) that they similarly affect prediction, preference, and action.
Psychology as the science of self-reports and finger movements: Whatever happened to actual behavior
- Perspectives on Psychological Science
, 2007
"... ABSTRACT—Psychology calls itself the science of behavior, ..."
Abstract
-
Cited by 121 (19 self)
- Add to MetaCart
(Show Context)
ABSTRACT—Psychology calls itself the science of behavior,
How Emotion Shapes Behavior: Feedback, Anticipation, and Reflection, Rather Than Direct Causation
"... On behalf of: ..."
(Show Context)
Ignorance of hedonic adaptation to hemodialysis: A study using ecological momentary assessment
- Journal of Experimental Psychology: General
, 2005
"... Healthy people generally underestimate the self-reported well-being of people with disabilities and serious illnesses. The cause of this discrepancy is in dispute, and the present study provides evidence for 2 causes. First, healthy people fail to anticipate hedonic adaptation to poor health. Using ..."
Abstract
-
Cited by 58 (4 self)
- Add to MetaCart
(Show Context)
Healthy people generally underestimate the self-reported well-being of people with disabilities and serious illnesses. The cause of this discrepancy is in dispute, and the present study provides evidence for 2 causes. First, healthy people fail to anticipate hedonic adaptation to poor health. Using an ecological momentary assessment measure of mood, the authors failed to find evidence that hemodialysis patients are less happy than healthy nonpatients are, suggesting that they have largely, if not completely, adapted to their condition. In a forecasting task, healthy people failed to anticipate this adaptation. Second, although controls understated their own mood in both an estimation task and a recall task, patients were quite accurate in both tasks. This relative negativity in controls ’ estimates of their own moods could also contribute to their underestimation of the moods and overall well-being of patients. In the same year that Brickman, Coates, and Janoff-Bulman (1978) published the famously counterintuitive result that persons with paraplegia are not that much less happy than lottery winners, Sackett and Torrance (1978) demonstrated that there are other serious health conditions that do not seem to be as badly experienced by the people living with them as healthy people would
Value from hedonic experience and engagement
- Psychological Review
, 2006
"... Recognizing that value involves experiencing pleasure or pain is critical to understanding the psychology of value. But hedonic experience is not enough. I propose that it is also necessary to recognize that strength of engagement can contribute to experienced value through its contribution to the e ..."
Abstract
-
Cited by 50 (6 self)
- Add to MetaCart
Recognizing that value involves experiencing pleasure or pain is critical to understanding the psychology of value. But hedonic experience is not enough. I propose that it is also necessary to recognize that strength of engagement can contribute to experienced value through its contribution to the experience of motivational force—an experience of the intensity of the force of attraction to or repulsion from the value target. The subjective pleasure/pain properties of a value target influence strength of engagement, but factors separate from the hedonic properties of the value target also influence engagement strength and thus contribute to the experience of attraction or repulsion. These additional sources of engagement strength include opposition to interfering forces, overcoming personal resistance, using the right or proper means of goal pursuit, and regulatory fit between the orientation and manner of goal pursuit. Implications of the contribution of engagement strength to value are discussed for judgment and decision making, persuasion, and emotional experiences.
The costs and benefits of writing, talking, and thinking about life’s triumphs and defeats
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
, 2006
"... Three studies considered the consequences of writing, talking, and thinking about significant events. In Studies 1 and 2, students wrote, talked into a tape recorder, or thought privately about their worst (N � 96) or happiest experience (N � 111) for 15 min each during 3 consecutive days. In Study ..."
Abstract
-
Cited by 49 (10 self)
- Add to MetaCart
(Show Context)
Three studies considered the consequences of writing, talking, and thinking about significant events. In Studies 1 and 2, students wrote, talked into a tape recorder, or thought privately about their worst (N � 96) or happiest experience (N � 111) for 15 min each during 3 consecutive days. In Study 3 (N � 112), students wrote or thought about their happiest day; half systematically analyzed, and half repetitively replayed this day. Well-being and health measures were administered before each study’s manipulation and 4 weeks after. As predicted, in Study 1, participants who processed a negative experience through writing or talking reported improved life satisfaction and enhanced mental and physical health relative to those who thought about it. The reverse effect for life satisfaction was observed in Study 2, which focused on positive experiences. Study 3 examined possible mechanisms underlying these effects. Students who wrote about their happiest moments—especially when analyzing them—experienced reduced well-being and physical health relative to those who replayed these moments. Results are discussed in light of current understanding of the effects of processing life events.
Distinction Bias: Misprediction and Mischoice Due to Joint Evaluation
"... This research identifies a new source of failure to make accurate affective predictions or to make experientially optimal choices. When people make predictions or choices, they are often in the joint evaluation (JE) mode; when people actually experience an event, they are often in the single evaluat ..."
Abstract
-
Cited by 48 (10 self)
- Add to MetaCart
(Show Context)
This research identifies a new source of failure to make accurate affective predictions or to make experientially optimal choices. When people make predictions or choices, they are often in the joint evaluation (JE) mode; when people actually experience an event, they are often in the single evaluation (SE) mode. The “utility function ” of an attribute can vary systematically between SE and JE. When people in JE make predictions or choices for events to be experienced in SE, they often resort to their JE preferences rather than their SE preferences and overpredict the difference that different values of an attribute (e.g., different salaries) will make to their happiness in SE. This overprediction is referred to as the distinction bias. The present research also specifies when the distinction bias occurs and when it does not. This research contributes to literatures on experienced utility, affective forecasting, and happiness. Suppose that a person is faced with two job offers. She finds one job interesting and the other tedious. However, the interesting job will pay her only $60,000 a year, and the tedious job will pay her $70,000 a year. The person wants to choose the job that will give her the greatest overall happiness. To make that choice, she tries to predict the difference in happiness between earning $60,000 a year
Doing better but feeling worse: Looking for the “best” job undermines satisfaction.
- Psychological Science,
, 2006
"... ABSTRACT-Expanding upon ..."
(Show Context)
Doing unto future selves as you would do unto others: Psychological distance and decision making
- Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
, 2008
"... waiter at the beginning of dinner that we will be skipping dessert, knowing that if we wait until later to decide our resolve will be lost. These observations of human deci-sion making have led many theorists to conceptualize the human mind as composed of multiple selves: The self that chooses well ..."
Abstract
-
Cited by 40 (0 self)
- Add to MetaCart
(Show Context)
waiter at the beginning of dinner that we will be skipping dessert, knowing that if we wait until later to decide our resolve will be lost. These observations of human deci-sion making have led many theorists to conceptualize the human mind as composed of multiple selves: The self that chooses well in advance and the self that faces
The Optimum Level of Well-Being -- Can People Be Too Happy?
- PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE
, 2007
"... Psychologists, self-help gurus, and parents all work to make their clients, friends, and children happier. Recent research indicates that happiness is functional and generally leads to success. However, most people are already above neutral in happiness, which raises the question of whether higher l ..."
Abstract
-
Cited by 38 (1 self)
- Add to MetaCart
Psychologists, self-help gurus, and parents all work to make their clients, friends, and children happier. Recent research indicates that happiness is functional and generally leads to success. However, most people are already above neutral in happiness, which raises the question of whether higher levels of happiness facilitate more effective functioning than do lower levels. Our analyses of large survey data and longitudinal data show that people who experience the highest levels of happiness are the most successful in terms of close relationships and volunteer work, but that those who experience slightly lower levels of happiness are the most successful in terms of income, education, and political participation. Once people are moderately happy, the most effective level of happiness appears to depend on the specific outcomes used to define
