2020, Volume 26, Issue 1

THE STRUCTURE OF VISUAL OBJECT PERCEPTION AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTANCE IN THE LIGHT OF THE CONSTRUAL LEVEL THEORY BY N. LIBERMAN AND Y. TROPE: A POTENTIAL APPLICATION IN AVIATION PSYCHOLOGY

JAN F. TERELAK¹, IZABELA SOLARCZYK¹
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¹Institute of Psychology, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw


Autor korenspondencyjny: JAN F. TERELAK; Institute of Psychology, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw; email: j.terelak@uksw.edu.pl

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Streszczenie

Introduction: The aim of the study is to determine the relation between the form of visual presentation of an object and the psychological distance included in the four dimensions (spatial, temporal, social, hypotheticality). The construal level theory by Nira Liberman and Yaacov Trope is used as a theoretical point of reference.

Methods: 400 people participated in the experiment. All distance dimensions were subjected to the same procedure: estimating the percentage value of the extent to which the objects presented in sixty slides (plus a second similarly constructed variant) were related to a specific context determined by the magnitude of psychological distance, in each dimension separately (for example, whether the object came from a shop in Poland or Ireland – small vs. large spatial distance). Six formal features of the visual presentation of an object were manipulated: size, exposed part, level of detail, color, background, technique.

Results: On the basis of the results obtained, it can be concluded that photographs generate less psychological distance than pictures, only in some conditions, determined by the quality of dimensions and stimuli, objects represented in color are associated with greater distance than black-and-white ones; size, exposed part, level of detail and background shape, in most conditions determined by the dimensions of distance and the quality of stimuli, influence the psychological distance significantly, albeit in different ways (different directions of influence).

Discussion: The hypothesis concerning the mechanism linking the formal features of an object (presented in a visual form) to psychological distance can be illustrated by using the context of the basic distance – the spatial distance at the two poles of which any object can be located, "looked at" from two perspectives –short and long distance, and then extracting those properties which depended on the magnitude of the spatial distance.

Conclusions:
1) Photographs are associated with less psychological distance compared to pictures.
2) Objects presented in color generate a greater distance than those in black and white (in many conditions defined by the dimension of distance and the quality of the stimuli).
3) Size, exposed part, level of detail and background influence the distance in most conditions, but the direction of the influence is not constant – it depends on the specificity of these conditions (on the dimension of distance and the quality of stimuli).
4) The principle of perception of visual objects and psychological distance finds a valuable application in aviation psychology, as a basis for research on general issues of visual situational awareness of a pilot.

Słowa kluczowe

psychological distance, construal level, form of visual presentation of an object, visual perception