Situating Construal Level: The Function of Abstractness and Concreteness in Social Contexts

Abstract

In three studies, we examined construal level in a social context: how an event is construed by both the sender and the receiver in a conversation. We tested the influence of two critical cues on construal level: temporal distance to the event date and the receiver's existing knowledge about the event. Results showed that while construal level shifted as a function of both cues, shared knowledge influenced construal over and above temporal distance when the cues were co-present. Specifically, construal level was more abstract when the event was temporally distant and more concrete when the event was temporally close. However, construal was more abstract when the receiver's existing knowledge was absent and more concrete when it was present, irrespective of temporal distance. These results extend current theorizing on construal level from an intra-individual process to an inter-personal one and support an approach to construal level as socially situated cognition.

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