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Expansive and contractive communication scope: A construal level perspective on the relationship between interpersonal distance and communicative abstraction
Author(s) -
Wakslak Cheryl,
Joshi Priyanka
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
social and personality psychology compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.699
H-Index - 53
ISSN - 1751-9004
DOI - 10.1111/spc3.12528
Subject(s) - construal level theory , interpersonal communication , perspective (graphical) , psychology , situational ethics , scope (computer science) , expansive , abstraction , social psychology , epistemology , computer science , philosophy , compressive strength , materials science , artificial intelligence , composite material , programming language
People adopt an expansive relational scope when communicating with psychologically distant audiences and a contractive relational scope when communicating with psychologically near audiences. We review recent research that has adopted a Construal Level Theory perspective to examine the impact of psychological distance of an audience on interpersonal communication. People communicate more abstractly when communicating with a distant audience and more concretely when communicating with an audience that is more proximal; correspondingly, communicating abstractly orients people toward more distant others and communicating concretely toward more proximal others. Furthermore, evidence suggests that the relationship between distance and communicative abstraction is dynamic and is influenced by communication goals and situational contexts. Moreover, a communicator's level of abstraction is consequential, influencing both how the communicator is perceived by observers and the potential effectiveness of the communication. We close by pointing to additional open questions and areas for future research.