Different ways of looking at unpleasant truths: How construal levels influence information search

Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes

Volumn 110, Issue 1, 2009, Pages 36-44

  Shani, Yaniv ^a,b   Igou, Eric R ^c,d   Zeelenberg, Marcel ^d  

^a INSEAD   (Singapore)

^b BEN GURION UNIVERSITY OF THE NEGEV   (Israel)

^c UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK   (Ireland)

^d TILBURG UNIVERSITY   (Netherlands)

Author keywords

Construal level; Information search; Uncertainty; Unpleasant truths

Indexed keywords

EID: 69349086758     PISSN: 07495978     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2009.05.005     Document Type: Article

References (39)

1. Carver C.S., and Scheier M.F. On the self-regulation of behavior (1998), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England
2. Freitas A.L., Gollwitzer P.M., and Trope Y. The influence of abstract and concrete mindsets on anticipating and guiding others' self-regulatory efforts. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 40 (2004) 739-752
3. Freitas A.L., Salovey P., and Liberman N. Abstract and concrete self-evaluative goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 80 (2001) 410-424
4. Fujita K., Trope Y., Liberman N., and Levin-Sagi M. Construal levels and self control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 90 (2006) 351-367
5. Gneezy U., List J.A., and Wu G. The uncertainty effect: When a risky prospect is valued less than its worst possible outcome. Quarterly Journal of Economics 121 (2006) 1283-1309
6. Henderson M.D., Fujita K., Trope Y., and Liberman N. Transcending the "Here": The effects of spatial distance on social judgment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 91 (2006) 845-856
7. Kross E., Ayduk O., and Mischel W. When asking "why" does not hurt: Distinguishing rumination from reflective processing of negative emotions. Psychological Science 16 (2005) 709-715
8. Kruglanski A.W., Shah J.Y., Fishbach A., Friedman R., Chun W.Y., and Sleeth-Keppler D. A theory of goal systems. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 34 34 (2002) 331-378
9. Libby L.K., Eibach R.P., and Gilovich T. Here's looking at me: The effect of memory perspective on assessments of personal change. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 88 (2005) 50-62
10. Liberman N., and Trope Y. The role of feasibility and desirability considerations in near and distant future decisions: A test of temporal construal theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 75 (1998) 5-18
11. Liberman N., Trope Y., and Stephan E. Psychological distance. In: Higgins E.T., and Kruglanski A. (Eds). Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles. 2nd ed. (2006), Guilford, New York
12. Loewenstein G. Anticipation and the valuation of delayed consumption. The Economic Journal 97 (1987) 666-684
13. Loewenstein G. The psychology of curiosity: A review and reinterpretation. Psychological Bulletin 116 (1994) 75-98
14. Loewenstein G. Pleasures and pains of information. Science 312 (2006) 704-706
15. MacKinnon D.P., Fairchild A.J., and Fritz M.S. Mediation analysis. Annual Review of Psychology 58 (2007) 593-614
16. MacKinnon D.P., Lockwood C.M., Hoffman J.M., West S.G., and Sheets V. A comparison of methods to test the significance of the mediated effect. Psychological Methods 7 (2002) 83-104
17. Markman K.D., Gavanski I., Sherman S.J., and Mcmullen M.N. The mental simulation of better and worse possible worlds. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 29 (1993) 87-109
18. Martin L.L., and Tesser A. Some ruminative thoughts. In: Wyer Jr. R.S. (Ed). Ruminative thoughts (1996), Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ 1-47
19. Metcalfe J., and Mischel W. A hot/cool-system analysis of delay of gratification: Dynamics of willpower. Psychological Review 106 (1999) 3-19
20. Mischel W., Ayduk O., and Mendoza-Denton R. Sustaining delay of gratification over time: A hot-cool systems perspective. In: Loewenstein G., and Read D. (Eds). Time and decision: Economic and psychological perspectives on intertemporal choice (2003), Russell Sage Foundation, New York, NY 175-200
21. Roese N.J. The functional basis of counterfactual thinking. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 66 (1994) 805-818
22. Roese N.J., and Summerville A. What we regret most ... And why. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 31 (2005) 1273-1285
23. Rottenstreich Y., and Hsee C.K. Money, kisses, and electric shocks: On the affective psychology of risk. Psychological Science 12 (2001) 185-190
24. Shah J.Y., and Kruglanski A.W. When opportunity knocks: Bottom-up priming of goals by means and its effects on self-regulation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 84 (2003) 1109-1122
25. Shani Y., Tykocinski O.E., and Zeelenberg M. When ignorance is not bliss: How distressing uncertainty drives the search of negative information. Journal of Economic Psychology 29 (2008) 643-653
26. Shani Y., and Zeelenberg M. When and why do we want to know? How experienced regret promotes post-decision information search. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making 20 (2007) 207-222
27. Schwartz B. The paradox of choice. Why less is more (2004), Harper Collins, New York
28. Sieff E.M., Dawes R.M., and Loewenstein G. Anticipated versus actual reaction to hiv test results. American Journal of Psychology 112 (1999) 297-311
29. Spencer S.J., Zanna M.P., and Fong G.T. Establishing a causal chain: Why experiments are often more effective than mediational analyses in examining psychological processes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 89 (2005) 845-851
30. Trope Y., Gervey B., and Bolger N. The role of perceived control in overcoming defensive self-evaluation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 39 (2003) 407-419
31. Trope Y., and Liberman N. Temporal construal and time-dependent changes in preference. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 79 (2000) 876-889
32. Trope Y., and Liberman N. Temporal construal. Psychological Review 110 (2003) 401-421
33. Vallacher R.R., and Wegner D.M. Levels of personal agency: Individual variation in action identification. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 57 (1989) 660-671
34. Van Dijk E., and Zeelenberg M. When curiosity killed regret: Avoiding or seeking the unknown in risky decision-making. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 4 (2007) 656-662
35. Wilson T.D., Centerbar D.B., Kermer D.A., and Gilbert D.T. The pleasure of uncertainty: Prolonging positive moods in ways people do not anticipate. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 88 (2005) 5-21
36. Wilson T.D., and Gilbert D.T. Affective forecasting. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 35 (2003) 345-411
37. Wilson T.D., Gilbert D.T., and Centerbar D.B. Making sense: The causes of emotional evanescence. In: Carillo J., and Brocas I. (Eds). The psychology of economic decisions Vol. 1 (2002), Oxford University Press, Oxford 209-233
38. Zeelenberg M. The use of crying over spilled milk: A note on the rationality and functionality of regret. Philosophical Psychology 13 (1999) 326-340
39. Zeelenberg M., and Pieters R. A theory of regret regulation 1.0. Journal of Consumer Psychology 17 (2007) 3-18