The highs and lows of mental representation: A construal level perspective on the structure of knowledge.

SoYon Rim, Yaacov Trope, Nira Liberman, Oren Shapira

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

This chapter presents a perspective on the mental representation of persons, groups, and the self that parsimoniously unifies existing distinctions, such as abstract versus concrete, schematic versus aschematic, and prototype versus exemplar, within the umbrella of high-versus low-level construal. This perspective is derived from construal level theory (CLT; see Trope & Liberman, 2010, for a review), which offers one perspective on when high-level construal will be favored over relatively more low-level construal. Specifically, CLT Is a theory that explains the relationship between psychological distance and level of construal. The chapter reviews past work on the structure of mental representations and describes relevant research within CLT, as well as other aspects of high- and low-level construal that go beyond traditional distinctions. Finally, research Is presented on the associations among different construal level dimensions that supports the argument for a common underlying function: namely, that high-level construals, by preserving essential features, support "mental travel," whereas low-level construals are bound to "me here and now." (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Oxford handbook of social cognition.
EditorsDonal Carlston
Place of PublicationNew York, NY, US
PublisherOxford University Press
Pages194-219
Number of pages26
ISBN (Print)9780199730018
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2013

Publication series

NameOxford library of psychology.

Keywords

  • Cognitive Processes
  • Psychological Distance
  • Theories

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The highs and lows of mental representation: A construal level perspective on the structure of knowledge.'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this