The relation of distance and abstraction across cultures: variations in construal level theory.

The present study explores how concretely or abstractly individuals imagine objects and events in different situations, which we call construal levels. Previous theory proposes that we construct our environment more abstractly the more distant it is, for example when we think of eating food this morning, it might be concrete such as eggs and toast, while eating last year in the morning can be breakfast. We want to research whether individuals from different cultures use these processes in different ways, for example when they categorize objects or when they use stereotypes. We also want to explore whether these construal levels impact performance. Based on some previous research in related areas of psychology and cognition, we would expect to find some differences in processing, and we would expect for these differences to also impact both stereotyping and task performance.

Faculty Supervisor:

Craig Hall

Student:

Celina Sylwia Kacperski

Partner:

Discipline:

Kinesiology

Sector:

University:

Western University

Program:

Globalink