Moran Tal, Eyal Tal
The Open University of Israel, Ra'anana, Israel.
Ghent University, Belgium.
Pers Soc Psychol Rev. 2022 May;26(2):112-159. doi: 10.1177/10888683211069025. Epub 2022 Feb 1.
Self-reflection is suggested to attenuate feelings, yet researchers disagree on whether adopting a distant or near perspective, or processing the experience abstractly or concretely, is more effective. Given the relationship between psychological distance and level of abstraction, we suggest the "construal-matching hypothesis": Psychological distance and abstraction differently influence emotion intensity, depending on whether the emotion's appraisal involves low-level or high-level construal. Two meta-analyses tested the effects of psychological distance ( = 230) and level-of-abstraction ( = 98) manipulations on emotional experience. A distant perspective attenuated emotional experience ( = 0.52) but with weaker effects for high-level ( = 0.29; for example, self-conscious emotions) than low-level emotions (= 0.64; for example, basic emotions). Level of abstraction only attenuated the experience of low-level emotions ( = 0.2) and showed a reverse (nonsignificant) effect for high-level emotions ( = -0.13). These results highlight differences between distancing and level-of-abstraction manipulations and the importance of considering the type of emotion experienced in emotion regulation.
自我反思被认为可以减轻情感，但研究人员对于采用远距离还是近距离视角，或者是抽象地还是具体地处理经历，哪种方式更有效存在分歧。鉴于心理距离与抽象程度之间的关系，我们提出“解释匹配假说”：心理距离和抽象程度对情感强度的影响不同，这取决于情感评估涉及的是低层次还是高层次的解释。两项元分析测试了心理距离（n = 230）和抽象程度（n = 98）的操纵对情感体验的影响。远距离视角减轻了情感体验（d = 0.52），但对高层次情感（d = 0.29；例如，自我意识情感）的影响比对低层次情感（d = 0.64；例如，基本情感）的影响要弱。抽象程度仅减轻了低层次情感的体验（d = 0.2），而对高层次情感则显示出相反的（不显著）影响（d = -0.13）。这些结果突出了距离操纵和抽象程度操纵之间的差异，以及在情绪调节中考虑所经历情感类型的重要性。
