Seeing into the Future: Future Time Orientation as a Moderator of Temporal Distance Effects on Educators' Decisions

Research suggests that the temporal distance from decision outcomes leads to divergent decisions for the near and the distal future. As such, high‐level idealistic concerns and values dominate decisions for the distant future, whereas low‐level pragmatic concerns play a greater role in decisions for the near future. We examined how individual differences in future time orientation are related to decisions vis‐à‐vis the near versus the distal future. The results of three studies, with participants with varying levels of expertise—students (Studies 2 and 3), teachers (Study 1), and school principals (Study 2)—show that principals tend to be overall more idealistic in their choices. Yet discrepancies between decisions for the near versus the distal future exist among all three levels of expertise. However, this dominance of idealistic over pragmatic concerns for more distant future decisions effect was smaller the higher the future time orientation was (whether measured or manipulated). Implications for educational and managerial decision making and training are discussed. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

行为表征水平与心理距离间不具自动化联接特性：来自图片-词汇Stroop范式的实验证据

基于建构水平理论基本假设的推论, 采用图片-词汇Stroop范式, 通过两组实验, 探讨了行为表征水平与心理距离间是否具有自动化联接特性的问题。实验结果一致表明：(1)无论是以词性判断速度为指标(实验1), 还是以词汇判断速度为指标(实验2), 对不同建构水平行为评价词汇的加工均不受词汇所在空间距离位置的影响, 说明行为表征水平的心理距离效应不具有自动化加工的特性, 而可能是意识性控制加工的产物; (2)无论是对于特质性词汇, 还是对于行动性词汇, 相对于近距离位置, 当其呈现于远距离位置时, 被试对其词性(实验1)和词汇(实验2)加工的速度均更快, 说明空间距离的延伸可促进对行为评价性词汇的加工绩效。     

视觉长时记忆激活度对促进视觉短时记忆的影响

短时记忆与长时记忆的关系是记忆领域研究的重要内容。基于此, 研究者们就视觉长时记忆是否能促进视觉短时记忆的问题展开了大量研究, 但所得出的结论并不一致。通过不同程度的学习形成不同激活度的视觉长时记忆, 考察对几何图形的视觉长时记忆是否能对变化检测中的短时记忆起到促进作用。结果发现, 低激活水平的视觉长时记忆不能促进视觉短时记忆, 而事先存在且高度激活的视觉长时记忆对视觉短时记忆却具有促进作用; 同时, 随着视觉长时记忆激活水平的提高, 刺激间间隔的效应值也逐渐减小。本研究说明, 视觉长时记忆能否促进视觉短时记忆取决于视觉长时记忆的激活水平, 高激活的视觉长时记忆对阻止视觉短时记忆痕迹的迅速消退具有重要意义。     

The Cross‐Level Mediating Effect of Psychological Capital on the Organizational Innovation Climate–Employee Innovative Behavior Relationship

Organizational innovation climates have been found to be effective predictors of employee creativity and organizational innovation. As such, climate assessments provide a basis for useful organizational interventions in enhancing creativity and innovation. Researchers now call for better articulation of the motivational mechanisms that link social context to employee innovation. In responding to the above call, this study found that employee positive psychological capital (PsyCap) is more influential than organizational innovation climate on employee innovative behavior. With a large sample (N  = 781) from 16 organizations and a cross‐level analysis, we examined the relationship between organizational innovation climate and employee innovative behavior with employee PsyCap as mediator. The results showed that both organizational innovation climate and employee PsyCap significantly affect employee innovative behavior, and more importantly, employee PsyCap fully mediates this relationship. The innovation journey is a challenging and risky one with many frustrations and discouraging moments from idea generation to idea implementation. The research results presented here imply that to be innovatively effective, organizations are advised to manage both social (organizational innovation climate) and psychological (PsyCap) resources of employees in enhancing employee innovative behavior. Other theoretic and practical implications are discussed.     

The effect of construal level on unethical behavior

Construal level theory predicts that people will judge immoral events more harshly when these are presented in a way that elicits a higher construal level, relative to a lower construal level. Previous research supported this prediction using an Israeli sample but not a U.S. sample. This article compared Israeli and U.S. samples with respect to the interactive effect of utility and construal level on unethical behavioral intentions. We found that construal level did not affect unethical behavioral intentions in either the U.S. samples for low-utility level or the Israeli samples for low- and high-utility levels. In contrast, construal level affected unethical behavioral intentions in the U.S. sample for high-utility level: unethical behavioral intentions were higher in the low-construal level compared to the high-construal level. We discuss these findings and suggest additional factors that challenge arguments concerning the direct effect of construal level on unethical behavior.     

特质愤怒对攻击行为的影响:敌意认知和冲动性水平有调节的中介作用

通过对重庆某综合大学大一到大三527名学生的问卷调查, 运用结构方程模型技术考察了特质愤怒、敌意认知、冲动性水平和攻击行为之间的关系。结果发现:(1)敌意认知在特质愤怒和攻击行为之间起部分中介的作用, 特质愤怒既对攻击行为产生直接影响, 也通过敌意认知对攻击行为产生间接影响;(2)运动冲动性因子对敌意认知的中介作用起到调节作用, 即敌意认知对攻击行为的影响随着个体冲动性水平的增加而提升;敌意认知对个体的攻击行为起着有调节的中介作用。     

解释水平理论的应用及发展

解释水平是指人们对于事物表征的不同抽象水平, 这一抽象水平有高有低。早期的研究侧重于探讨解释水平变化的底层心理机制, 即心理距离对于解释水平的影响。而近年来, 研究者侧重于解释水平理论的应用研究, 即探讨它在说服、谈判、消费者行为等领域的应用。这一应用体现在营销及消费者行为研究、社会认知研究、决策及协商研究、社会化研究中。另外, 解释水平理论的应用研究, 还推动了其底层心理机制研究的发展, 进一步完善了其理论体系。     

Psychological distance boosts value-behavior correspondence in ultimatum bargaining and integrative negotiation

The present research examined how construal level and social motivation interact in influencing individuals’ behavior in social decision making settings. Consistent with recent work on psychological distance and value-behavior correspondence (Eyal, Sagristano, Trope, Liberman, & Chaiken, 2009), it was predicted that under high construal level individuals’ behavior is based on the social motivation they endorsed, no matter whether pro-social or pro-self. Two experiments involving ultimatum game (Experiment 1) and face to face negotiation (Experiment 2) supported the “increased value-behavior correspondence” hypothesis by showing that pro-socials were more cooperative and pro-selves were more competitive under high rather than low construal level. Implications for research on social decision making and psychological distance are discussed.     

Planning for the near and distant future: How does temporal distance affect task completion predictions?

In everyday life people estimate completion times for projects in the near and distant future. How might the temporal proximity of a project influence prediction? Given that closer events elicit more concrete construals, we proposed that temporal proximity could enhance two kinds of concrete cognitions pertinent to task completion predictions: step-by-step plans and potential obstacles. Although these cognitions have opposite implications for prediction, and thus could cancel each other out, we hypothesized that temporal proximity would have a greater impact on cognitions that were relatively focal. Thus contextual factors that alter the relative focus on plans vs. obstacles should determine whether and how temporal proximity affects prediction. Six studies supported this reasoning. In contexts that elicited a focus on planning, individuals predicted earlier completion times for close than distant projects. In contexts that prompted a focus on obstacles, individuals predicted later completion times for close than distant projects.     

Promoting prospective self-control through abstraction

When people anticipate that future temptations may undermine valued goals, they use a number of prospective self-control strategies (or “precommitment devices”) to increase the likelihood of future self-control success. Little is known, however, about the conditions under which people are more or less likely to use them. Drawing from construal level theory (e.g., Trope & Liberman, 2003), we argue that people are more likely to engage in prospective self-control when they construe events more abstractly (at higher-level construals). Results from two experiments demonstrated that higher-level construals promote use of two well-documented prospective strategies: choice bracketing and self-imposing punishment. Higher-level construals thus appear to enhance people's efforts to protect their valued goals from anticipated temptations.