title: Weighty data: importance information influences estimated weight of digital information storage devices.
abstract: Previous work suggests that perceived importance of an object influences estimates of its weight. Specifically, important books were estimated to be heavier than non-important books. However, the experimental set-up of these studies may have suffered from a potential confound and findings may be confined to books only. Addressing this, we investigate the effect of importance on weight estimates by examining whether the importance of information stored on a data storage device (USB-stick or portable hard drive) can alter weight estimates. Results show that people thinking a USB-stick holds important tax information (vs. expired tax information vs. no information) estimate it to be heavier (Experiment 1) compared to people who do not. Similarly, people who are told a portable hard drive holds personally relevant information (vs. irrelevant), also estimate the drive to be heavier (Experiments 2A,B).
authors.affiliation: Mind and Society Center, University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA, USA ; Department of Psychology, University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA, USA ; Department of Clinical Psychology, VU University Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Iris K
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.affiliation: Psycholinguistique and Psychologie Sociale Appliquée, University of Fribourg Fribourg, Switzerland ; Sopot Social Cognition Lab, University of Social Sciences and Humanities Sopot, Poland.
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Parzuchowski
authors.affiliation: Sopot Social Cognition Lab, University of Social Sciences and Humanities Sopot, Poland.
authors.forename: Bogdan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wojciszke
authors.affiliation: Mind and Society Center, University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA, USA ; Department of Psychology, University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Schwarz
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology, VU University Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Sander L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Koole
keywords: digital data; embodiment; importance; judgment; metaphor; relevance; social cognition; weight