The influence of the attitude on the perception of "Self"- and "not-self’-phenomena on their construal levels

Abstract

The Construal Level Theory posits the association between the psychological distance to the phenomenon and the level (abstractness) of its construal (representation) in one's consciousness. The prerequisites and scientific value of distinguishing the two levels of construction: "Self"- and "not-Self"-phenomena are discussed in the paper. In order to examine if the two construal levels vary together or independently, a study was conducted. Qualitative and quantitative comparison of “Self”- and "non-Self"-phenomena were also carried out. In the study 130 participants were asked to complete three tasks: pre-test, main task and post-test. The main task consisted of naming only "Self"- or "not-Self"-phenomena for 5 minutes. Thus, the main task was aimed to induce the attitude towards perception of "Self"- or "not-Self"-phenomena. Control condition contained no restrictions. Pre - and post-tests required the participants to name 10 "Self"-or "not-Self" - phenomena, whose level of abstraction was further evaluated by three independent experts. Induction of the attitude towards the perception of "not-Self"-phenomena was found to decrease the construal level of "Self"-phenomena and not the "not-Self"-phenomena, and vice versa. The "Self"-phenomenon, on average, was found to be constructed at a higher level compared to the "not-Self"-phenomenon. Due to specifics of the experimental procedure additional research is required in order to provide the representativeness of the results obtained.