INTERACTION OF MULTIPLE PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTANCE DIMENSIONS AND ITS EFFECT ON INDIVIDUALS’ EVALUATIONS

Abstract

My thesis examines the effects of two dimensions of psychological distance (i.e., hypotheticality and temporal distance, as well as spatial distance and temporal distance) on people’s evaluations of events. I conducted two experiments to support my hypotheses. In Experiment 1, I considered a case when both hypotheticality and temporal distance define an event. Although each of the two dimensions can produce a subjective experience of psychological distance, I suggest it may not be possible for individuals to always appraise the event based on a sub-additive function. Instead, it is possible that under certain circumstances, individuals would appraise the event holistically. I also identified “prior experience of the event” as one of the factors that would determine the approach (sub-additivity vs. holistic) that individuals would take when evaluating the event. In Experiment 2, I attempted to demonstrate that my results in the first experiment would most likely be applicable only to experiences that can be stored in memory like an episode.