The “Temporal-Processing-Fit Effect”: The Interplay Between Regulatory State, Temporal Distance, and Construal Levels

Abstract

The current research proposes a moderator of the established effect of temporal construal on the weighting of abstract features versus more concrete features—that of the individual's regulatory focus. The moderating effect relies on the presence or absence of a fit between regulatory focus and the time horizon for upcoming decisions (i.e., prevention focus/near future or promotion focus/distant future). Under a promotion (prevention) focus, construal levels are higher in the near (distant) than in the distant (near) future. Four experiments find support for this “temporal-processing-fit effect” and provide a perspective on its possible causes, showing that when “fit” is the present state, the event is perceived as more important, being locally processed and construed in a concrete manner, than in non-fit states. In the latter states, the event is processed in a global manner and construed abstractly because it is perceived as less important.

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