Yi Richard, Stuppy-Sullivan Allison, Pickover Alison, Landes Reid D
Department of Health Education and Behavior, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States of America.
Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2017 May 23;12(5):e0177240. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0177240. eCollection 2017.
Construal Level Theory states that psychologically proximal outcomes are construed concretely while psychologically distal outcomes are construed abstractly. Previous research suggests that the principles of Construal Level Theory can be applied to enhance self-control, as measured by delay discounting. The present studies replicate and expand on this work by examining whether theory-informed priming manipulations lead to delay discounting reductions in a repeated-measures design. Study 1 conceptually replicated previous work, with reduced delay discounting observed as a function of thinking abstractly. Studies 2 and 3 expanded on this work by reinterpreting (a) preference for immediate outcomes as preference for outcomes that are construed concretely, and (b) dispreference for delayed outcomes as dispreference for outcomes that are construed abstractly. Study 2 provided support for the first interpretation, as reduced delay discounting was observed as a function of thinking concretely about the future. Study 3 provided support for the second interpretation, as reduced delay discounting was observed as a function of thinking abstractly about the present. In studies 1 and 3, significant condition × order interactions were observed. In all three studies, the same impact of order of exposure to priming manipulation was observed, indicating specific carryover effects.
解释水平理论认为，心理上接近的结果会被具体地解释，而心理上遥远的结果会被抽象地解释。先前的研究表明，解释水平理论的原则可以应用于增强自我控制，这通过延迟折扣来衡量。本研究通过在重复测量设计中检验基于理论的启动操纵是否会导致延迟折扣降低，对这项工作进行了重复和扩展。研究1从概念上重复了先前的工作，观察到随着抽象思维而出现延迟折扣降低。研究2和3通过重新解释（a）对即时结果的偏好为对被具体解释的结果的偏好，以及（b）对延迟结果的厌恶为对被抽象解释的结果的厌恶，对这项工作进行了扩展。研究2为第一种解释提供了支持，观察到随着对未来进行具体思考而出现延迟折扣降低。研究3为第二种解释提供了支持，观察到随着对当下进行抽象思考而出现延迟折扣降低。在研究1和3中，观察到显著的条件×顺序交互作用。在所有三项研究中，观察到接触启动操纵的顺序具有相同的影响，表明存在特定的遗留效应。
