Abstract and concrete self-evaluative goals.
Assuming that people often hold the abstract goal of acquiring accurate feedback but recognize that acquiring favorable feedback can make the self-evaluative process more comfortable, the authors posited that low-level construals (of how action is performed) would elicit greater self-enhancement motivation than would high-level construals (of why action is performed). Individuals chronically using low-level construals had greater interest in downward social comparison (DSC) and less interest in negative feedback (NF; Studies 1 and 3). Decreases in temporal distance (which foster low-level construals) also elicited greater interest in DSC and less interest in NF (Studies 2 and 4). The latter effect was explained by participants' aversion to inconvenience (Study 5) and not by approach-avoidance conflict (Study 6). These results suggest that the level of abstraction at which people construe self-evaluative situations can influence their feedback preferences.
Freitas
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Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA. antonio.freitas@yale.edu
Salovey
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P
Liberman
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N
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003237:Connecticut; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009518:New York; D012649:Self Concept; D012919:Social Behavior; D012938:Social Perception