Universität zu Köln

Schneider, Iris K. ORCID: 0000-0003-0915-0809, Stapels, Julia, Koole, Sander L. and Schwarz, Norbert ORCID: 0000-0002-8868-7067 (2020). Too close to call: Spatial distance between options influences choice difficulty. J. Exp. Soc. Psychol., 87. SAN DIEGO: ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE. ISSN 1096-0465

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

In language, people often refer to decision difficulty in terms of spatial distance. Specifically, decision-difficulty is expressed as proximity, for instance when people say that a decision was too close to call. Although these expressions are metaphorical, we argue, in line with research on conceptual metaphor theory, that they reflect how people think about difficult decisions. Thus, here we examine whether close spatial distance can actually make decision-making harder. In six experiments (total N = 672), participants chose between two choice options presented either close together or far apart. As predicted, close (rather than far) choice options led to more difficulty, both in self-report (Experiment 1A-1C) and behavioral measures (decision-time, Experiment 2 and 3). Identifying a boundary condition, we show that close choice options lead to more difficulty only for within-category choices (Experiment 3). The too-close-to-call effect is theoretically and methodologically relevant for a broad array of research where choice options are visually presented, ranging from social cognition, judgment and decision-making to more applied settings in consumer psychology and marketing.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Schneider, Iris K. UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0003-0915-0809 UNSPECIFIED Stapels, Julia UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Koole, Sander L. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Schwarz, Norbert UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0002-8868-7067 UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-343336
DOI:	10.1016/j.jesp.2019.103939
Journal or Publication Title:	J. Exp. Soc. Psychol.
Volume:	87
Date:	2020
Publisher:	ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
Place of Publication:	SAN DIEGO
ISSN:	1096-0465
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Human Sciences Faculty of Management, Economy and Social Sciences
Divisions:	Faculty of Human Sciences > Department Psychologie Center of Excellence C-SEB
Subjects:	Psychology
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language Psychology, Social Multiple languages
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/34333