The Effect of Psychological Distance on Level of Construal: What Can Be Learned From the Failed Replication by the Construal Level International Multilab Replication?

Abstract

Calderon and her colleagues failed to replicate construal-level theory’s finding that psychologically more distant actions—actions that are planned for the more distant future, more distant places, and less likely situations and performed by more socially distant persons—are construed more abstractly. There is considerable evidence for the effect of psychological distance on construal level, including recent well-powered, preregistered studies. There is also a theory behind this effect: Higher-level constructs change less over distance. So why did the replication fail? What can be learned from it about (studying) distance and level of construal and more generally, about multilab replications? In this commentary, we suggest that in several respects, the replication project fell short of meeting established standards of psychological research. The results of the project are partly based on samples that included many inattentive participants; responders who were not native speakers of the language in which the study was presented; translations that did not preserve the original intent of the materials; manipulations of distance that were confusing, weak, or confounded with valence; and manipulation checks that did not check the actual manipulations. We also offer a reanalysis of some of Calderon and colleagues’ data and a new replication study, both of which show an effect of temporal distance on construal level. Finally, we suggest two ways in which the Registered Replication Report format may be improved.