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Psychological Distance and Subjective Experience: How Distancing Reduces the Feeling of Difficulty

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  • Manoj Thomas
  • Claire I. Tsai

Abstract

Psychological distance can reduce the subjective experience of difficulty caused by task complexity and task anxiety. Four experiments were conducted to test several related hypotheses. Psychological distance was altered by activating a construal mind-set and by varying bodily distance from a given task. Activating an abstract mind-set reduced the feeling of difficulty. A direct manipulation of distance from the task produced the same effect: participants found the task to be less difficult when they distanced themselves from the task by leaning back in their seats. The experiments not only identify psychological distance as a hitherto unexplored but ubiquitous determinant of task difficulty but also identify bodily distance as an antecedent of psychological distance.

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  • Manoj Thomas & Claire I. Tsai, 2012. "Psychological Distance and Subjective Experience: How Distancing Reduces the Feeling of Difficulty," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 39(2), pages 324-340.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jconrs:doi:10.1086/663772
    DOI: 10.1086/663772
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    Cited by:

    1. Qin Zhao & Jenni Redifer, 2016. "Expecting Immediate Grades," SAGE Open, , vol. 6(2), pages 21582440166, April.
    2. Zhang, Ye & Cole, Shu & Hirt, Edward & Bilgihan, Anil, 2017. "Self-determined travel facilitation with mental construal priming," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 472-483.
    3. Ying Ding & Hean Tat Keh, 2017. "Consumer reliance on intangible versus tangible attributes in service evaluation: the role of construal level," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 45(6), pages 848-865, November.
    4. Klitmøller, Anders & Lauring, Jakob, 2016. "When distance is good: A construal level perspective on perceptions of inclusive international language use," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 276-285.
    5. Uhm, Jun-Phil & Kim, Sanghoon & Do, Chanwook & Lee, Hyun-Woo, 2022. "How augmented reality (AR) experience affects purchase intention in sport E-commerce: Roles of perceived diagnosticity, psychological distance, and perceived risks," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    6. Poushneh, Atieh, 2021. "How close do we feel to virtual product to make a purchase decision? Impact of perceived proximity to virtual product and temporal purchase intention," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    7. Herter, Márcia Maurer & Borges, Adilson & Pinto, Diego Costa, 2021. "Which emotions make you healthier? The effects of sadness, embarrassment, and construal level on healthy behaviors," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 147-158.
    8. Mohamed Didi Alaoui, 2020. "L’effet d’adéquation entre la forme de présentation du prix et de la distance temporelle sur les réponses du consommateur : une approche par la théorie des niveaux de représentation," Post-Print hal-02870097, HAL.
    9. Xueming Luo & Michelle Andrews & Zheng Fang & Chee Wei Phang, 2014. "Mobile Targeting," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(7), pages 1738-1756, July.
    10. Didi Alaoui, Mohamed & Valette-Florence, Pierre & Cova, Véronique, 2022. "How psychological distance shapes hedonic consumption: The moderating role of the need to justify," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 57-69.
    11. David L. Alexander & Ashley Stadler Blank, 2018. "Besting the status quo: the effect of abstract versus concrete mindsets on emotional trade-off difficulty and avoidant coping behavior," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 29(3), pages 351-362, September.
    12. Mourali, Mehdi & Yang, Zhiyong & Pons, Frank & Hassay, Derek, 2018. "Consumer power and choice deferral: The role of anticipated regret," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 81-99.

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