The Effect Of Self-Other Psychological Distance On The Trade-off Between Desirability And Feasibility

Based on Trope and Liberman’s research, internal desirability and external desirability were introduced into this study, aiming to explore how the psychological distance affect the decision making about the trade-off between internal desirability, external desirability and feasibility. Two methods were used to manipulate psychological distance of self and others in two experiments separately.In study 1, Participants were instructed to decide on the behalf of themselves, a specific friend and an abstract others, after finishing reading the materials, they should make scores to show their preferences towards four choices in every situation(A. high internal desirability-low external desirability-high feasibility; B. high internal desirability-low external desirability-low feasibility; C. low internal desirability-high external desirability-high feasibility; D. low internal desirability-high external desirability-low feasibility). In study2, Participants were instructed to decide on the behalf of themselves, a similar others and a dissimilar others, after finishing reading the materials, they should also make scores to show their preferences towards four choices in every situation as the same.Results showed that:(1) When participants make decision on the behalf of themselves, a specific friend and an abstract others, no differences were found between self and others, specific friend and abstract others. (2) When participants made decision on the behalf of themselves, a similar others and a dissimilar others, participants scored notably higher on internal desirability when they made decisions for themselves and the similar one, while when they make decisions for a dissimilar person, they scored notably higher on external desirability. (3)No matters what methods were used to manipulate psychological distance, participants scored notably higher on feasibility no matter whom they decide for.The results are in accord with Zhang’s (2014), the manipulation method through interpersonal similarity is more effective than familiarity. The result also support the theory of motivation, which refer to that when participants made decision on the behalf of themselves or a close one, they will be motivated much more by internal desirability, beyond that, they will be motivated more by external desirability.