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Viewing time through the lens of the self: The fit effect of self‐construal and temporal distance on task perception
Author(s) -
Lee Sujin,
Lee Angela Y.,
Kern Mary C.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
european journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1099-0992
pISSN - 0046-2772
DOI - 10.1002/ejsp.765
Subject(s) - self construal , construal level theory , psychology , perception , task (project management) , social psychology , interdependence , construals , cognitive psychology , self , sociology , management , economics , social science , neuroscience
Abstract This paper describes how different self‐construals influence people's perception of temporal distance and in turn their task evaluation. We hypothesize that people with a more accessible interdependent (vs. independent) self‐construal perceive future events as temporally more proximal, and that people's reaction toward a task is intensified when the temporal distance to the task matches (vs. mismatches) their self‐construal. Across four studies, we showed that individuals with a more accessible interdependent self‐construal (Study 1) and East Asians (Study 2) perceived future events as more proximal than those with a more accessible independent self‐construal and European Americans. Further, when considering a task at a temporal distance that fits their self‐construal, individuals perceived a pleasant task as more motivating (Study 3) and an unpleasant task as less motivating (Study 4). The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is. C. S. Lewis Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.