Fondness makes the distance grow shorter Desired locations seem closer because they seem - PDF document

Fondnessmakesthedistancegrowshorter:DesiredlocationsseemcloserbecausetheyseemmorevividAdamL.Alter,EmilyBalcetisNewYorkUniversity,NewYork,NY,USAarticleinfoArticlehistory:Received3April2010Revised22July2010Availableonlinexxxx MotivatedperceptionDistanceperceptionDoappealinglocationsseemnearerthanunappealinglocationsmerelybecausetheyaremoredesirable?Weexaminethepossibilitythatpeoplerepresentdesirablelocationsasnearerthanequidistantundesirablelocations.Inthreestudies,participantsrepresentedavarietyoflocationsonauniversitycampus(Study1)andinthegreaterNewYorkCityarea(Studies2and3)asnearerthemorepositivetheyfeltaboutthose JournalofExperimentalSocialPsychologyxxx(2010)xxx Correspondingauthor.SternSchoolofBusiness,NewYorkUniversity,40West4thStreet,NewYork,NY10012,USA.E-mailaddress:(A.L.Alter). YJESP-02511;No.ofpages:6;4C: seefrontmatter©2010ElsevierInc.Allrightsreserved. ContentslistsavailableatScienceDirectJournalofExperimentalSocialPsychologyjournalhomepage:www.elsevier.com/locate/jesp Pleasecitethisarticleas:Alter,A.L.,&Balcetis,E.,Fondnessmakesthedistancegrowshorter:Desiredlocationsseemcloserbecausetheyseemmorevivid,JournalofExperimentalSocialPsychology(2010),doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2010.07.018 ).Peopleseekingafliationwithothersorienttheirattentiontowardhappyfacesthatsignalsocialacceptance,andpeopleseekingpowerorienttheirattentiontowardexpressionssignalinglowdominance(Schultheiss&Hale,2007Consistentwiththisresearch,weproposethehypothesisasoneeffectnestedwithinthemotivatedperceptioninvestigation.Thepositivityclosenesshypothesispredictsthatthemorepleasantthelocation,thecloseritshouldbeexperienced.Webasedthishypothesisonrecentevidencethatsuggeststhatrepresentationsofphysicaldistancedependinpartonthedesirabilityoftheobject.Forinstance,desirableobjects,likea$100billthatananciallystrappedcollegestudentcouldwin,arerepresentedasphysicallycloserthanlessdesirableobjects,likea$100thatwillgodirectlyintotheexperimenter'spocket(Balcetis&Dunning,2010aWiththisarticle,weextendthislineofresearchtoexploretherepresentationspeopleformoftheirgreaterenvironmentsandtheirplacewithinthoseenvironments.Alongtheselines,weexploredobservers'subjectiverepresenta-tionsofdistance.People'srepresentationsofdistancetoobjectsandplacesinamentalspaceareconstructionsbasedonwhattheenvironmentactuallycontainsandtheirknowledgeaboutthecontentsoftheenvironment(e.g.,Huttenlocher,Hedges,&Duncan,1991;McNamara,1986Tversky,2003).Whilesomerepresentationsofspaceoccurdeliberatelytoserveimmediateaction(see),otherrepresentationsofspaceanddistancearisefromlessovertprocesses.Ratherthanfocusingondirectvisualperceptionsofdistance,weareconcernedwiththeimplicitmentalrepresentationsofspaceanddistancethatpeopleconstructregardingenvironmentsthattheycannotfullyseeatthatmoment.WhileresearchersfromtheNewLooktraditionandcurrentinvestigatorshaveshownthatpeople'sdesiresbiashowtheyrepresentthelocalenvironment,animportantopenquestionstillremains:bywhatmechanismsdomotivationsshaperepresentationsofthegreateroutsideworld?Inthisarticle,weinvestigatedonespecicmechanismbywhichobservers'motivationsinuencerepresentation,aquestionthatwasnotaddressedoransweredbyprecedinginvestigations.Wetestedacognitivemechanism,whichwetermthepositivityesis.Specically,weproposedthatintheabsenceofgoodreasonstoattendtonegativeinformationpeopleselectivelyattendtodesirableaspectsoflocations(seeBalcetis&Dunning,2010a,b;Brosch,Sander,Pourtois,&Scherer,2008;Calvo&Avero,2005;Pugshauptetal.,),andasaresultthoselocationsbecomerelativelymorevividthanlessdesirablebutotherwisesimilarlocations(forareview,seeAlter&Oppenheimer,2009hypothesispredictsthatappealingloca-tionsshouldseemcloserbecauseappealinglocationsareconstruedmorevividlythanrelativelyunappealinglocations.Specically,earlierstudieshaveshownthatpeopleperceivevividorcognitivelytargetsasrelativelyproximate.Thisoccursbecausepeopleassumethatobjectsbecomeprogressivelymoredifculttoperceiveastheyrecedeintothedistance(Alter&Oppenheimer,2008).Inthispaper,wethereforeexaminedwhetherpreferreddestinationsarerepre-sentedasnearerthanlesspreferreddestinations(thesis:Studies13),andevaluatedtheroleofvividnessinsubjectiverepresentationsofdistance(thehypothesis:Studies2Study1:DistanceonauniversitycampusWebeganbytestingtheclosenesshypothesis:thatappealinglocationsshouldberepresentednearerthanunappealinglocations.Anexperimenterstoppedpeoplewhowerewalkingbetweentwoplacesandaskedthemtoestimatetheproportionofthedistancetheyhadtraveled,howmuchtheyenjoyedbeingattheirorigin,andhowmuchtheyexpectedtoenjoybeingattheirdestination.Weexpectedthatparticipantswouldoverestimatehowfartheyhadtraveledwhentheirdestinationwasrelativelymoreappealingthantheirorigin.ParticipantsFiftyadults(27females;=23.44years,=6.86)completedaquestionnairewhilewalkingonthePrincetonUniversitycampus.Thesampleconsistedofstudents(74%)andtouristsorvisitorstothecampus(26%),andparticipantsrepresentedarangeofethnicbackgrounds(76%White,6%Black,10%Asian,2%Hispanic,6%belongedtooneofthreeotherethnicgroups).Sincenoneofthesedemographicvariablesinteractedwiththemeasuresofinterestinthisortheremainingstudies,werefrainfromdiscussingthemfurther.Materials,design,andprocedureTheexperimenterapproachedparticipantsatoneoftwolocationsonthePrincetonUniversitycampustoensurethattheeffectswerenotsomehowspecictoasinglelocation.Participantscompleteda1-pagequestionnairethatassessedperceptionsofdistanceintheenvironment.Participantsreportedthelocationwheretheybegantheirjourney,wheretheyweregoing,andthenestimatedwhatproportionofthedistancebetweenthetwopointstheyhadcovered.Theyalsoreportedhowmuchtheyenjoyedbeingattheiroriginandhowmuchtheyexpectedtoenjoybeingattheirdestination(1=notatallto7=verymuch).Aftercompletingthequestionnaire,participantsdescribedtheirchosenroutetoensurethattheywereimaginingthemostdirectroutebetweentheiroriginandtheirdestination.Allparticipantsreportedimaginingthemostdirectroute,andnoneoftheparticipantsreportedbeingawareofourhypotheses,orofthelinkbetweendistanceestimatesandaffectiveresponsestowardtheoriginanddestination.ResultsanddiscussionDistancecalculationsUsingtheGmapsPedometerapplication(http://www.gmap-pe-dometer.com/),tworesearcherscalculatedhowfarparticipantshadactuallytraveled,howfartheyhadyettotravel,and,consequently,whatproportionoftheirjourneytheyhadcompleted.Theresearch-ers,bothofwhomwerefamiliarwiththePrincetoncampusbutblindtothepurposesofthestudy,calculatedtheshortestwalkingdistancebetweenthetworelevantpoints.Fromthesevalues,wecalculatedwhatproportionoftheirjourneyparticipantshadactuallycovered.Finally,wecalculatedthedifferencebetweenparticipants'estimatesoftheproportionofthejourneytheycoveredandtheproportionofthejourneytheyhadactuallycovered.Positivevaluessuggestedthatparticipantsoverestimatedhowfartheyhadtraveled,andnegativevaluessuggestedparticipantsunderestimatedhowfartheyhadPrimaryanalysesAsexpected,themoreexcitedparticipantswereabouttheirdestinationrelativetotheirorigin,themoretheytendedtooverestimatehowfartheyhadtraveled,(48)=.46,.001.Thiscorrelationsuggestssupportforthepositivityhypothesis,asparticipantssubjectivelyfeltthattheirdestinationwascloserthanitactuallywaswhentheypreferredtheirdestinationtotheirorigin.Wealsodividedparticipantsintothreegroupsaccordingtowhethertheypreferredtheirorigin,theirdestination,orlikedbothequally.Aone-wayANOVAsuggestedthatparticipants'journeycom-pletionestimatesdiffereddependingonthesepreferences,(2,47)=5.91,=.005.WefollowedthisomnibusANOVAwiththreeone-sample,simple-effectstests,comparingparticipants'estimationaccuracyscorestoabaselineofzero.Asexpected,participantswhoA.L.Alter,E.Balcetis/JournalofExperimentalSocialPsychologyxxx(2010)xxx Pleasecitethisarticleas:Alter,A.L.,&Balcetis,E.,Fondnessmakesthedistancegrowshorter:Desiredlocationsseemcloserbecausetheyseemmorevivid,JournalofExperimentalSocialPsychology(2010),doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2010.07.018 weremoreexcitedabouttheiroriginthantheirdestinationtendedtounderestimatehowfartheyhadtraveled(7.21%,=15.34%),(47)=3.61,.001,whereasthosewhoweremoreexcitedabouttheirdestinationtendedtooverestimatehowfartheyhadtraveled(=+14.59%,=25.72%),(47)=4.25,Participantswhowereequallyexcitedabouttheiroriginanddesti-nationwerenotablymoreaccurateastheirestimatesdidnotdiffersignicantlyfromtheactualproportionofthejourneytraveled2.24%underestimate,=13.69%),1.Theseresultsofferpreliminaryevidenceforthepositivityclosenesshypothesis:thatpeopleoverestimatetheirproximitytoappealingdestinations.Study2:ConeyIslandStudy1showedthatpositivityandperceivedclosenessarecorrelated,butintheremainingstudiesweexaminedwhetherthesamelocationwouldseemnearerwhenwemanipulateditsvalence.InStudy2,non-NewYorkerswereinducedtoformimpressionsofConeyIsland,anamusementpark10.4milessoutheastofaManhattancityparkfromwhichparticipantswererecruited.ParticipantsreadtightlycontrolledandequallyconcretedescriptionsthatframedConeyIslandineitherapositiveornegativelight.WepredictedthatparticipantswouldrepresentConeyIslandasnearertotheparkinwhichtheyweresittingwhentheyfeltmorepositiveaboutConeyIsland.ParticipantsInexchangeforcandyorabottleofwater,43peoplesittinginWashingtonSquarePark,inlowerManhattan,(averageage=30.6-years;21females)whoindicatedthattheydidnotliveinthegreaterNewYorkCityareacompletedasurvey.Materials,design,andprocedureValenceinductionprocedure.AllparticipantsreadanintroductionthatdescribedConeyIslandasastripoflandinsoutheastNewYorkStatethatishometobeachesandamusementparks.ParticipantsthensawafewreviewsostensiblyfromtwopeoplewhovisitedConeyIslandrecentlyandpostedtheirreactionsonTripadvisor.com.Participantsrandomlyassignedtothepositivevalencecondition(=21)readreactionsthatmentionedhappypeople,funcarnivalatmosphere,cottoncandy,seabreeze,sunshine,cheapfamilyentertainment,andwitnessingsomeonegettingengaged.Participantsrandomlyassignedtothenegativevalencecondition(=22)readreactionsthatmentioneddepressedpeople,grimycircusmen,boiledhotdogsandburnedpopcorn,garbage,expensiveentertainment,andwitnessingsomeonegettingpick-pocketed.Positiveandnegativedescriptionswereequatedforlengthandconcretenessofdetail.Distance,valence,andvividnessmeasures.AfterreadingdescriptionsofConeyIsland,participantsindicatedhowfarawayConeyIslandfelt.TheyweredirectedtothinkaboutwhereConeyIslandwas,wheretheywere,andtoimaginehowfarawayConeyIslandwasasthecrowies.Thatis,theyindicatedhowfarawayConeyIslandwasiftheycouldtraveldirectlyfromwheretheyweretoConeyIsland.ParticipantsreportedtheirrepresentationofthedistancefromtheirlocationtoConeyIslandona7-pointscale(from1=feelsextremelycloseto7=feelsextremelyfaraway).Toassesspositivityasamanipulationcheck,participantsreportedtheirfeelingsaboutConeyIslandusingan11-pointscale(from5=verynegative,0=neitherpositiveornegative,to+5=verypositive).Toassessvividness,participantsindicatedhowvividlytheycouldpictureConeyIslandatthatmoment,usinga7-pointscale(from1=notatallvividlyto7=veryvividly).ResultsanddiscussiontioncheckAsexpected,thevalencemanipulationshapedparticipantsfeelingstowardConeyIsland,(41)=2.81,=.008.ParticipantsfeltmorepositiveaboutConeyIslandafterreadingthepositivedescrip-tion(=1.52,=1.69)comparedtothenegativedescription=-0.36,=2.59).SubjectivedistancerepresentationandvividnessWefoundtheexpectedeffectofvalencemanipulationonrepresentationsofdistance,(41)=2.26,=.029.Asexpected,participantsfeltthatConeyIslandwasnearertothemonthe7-pointsubjectivedistancescaleafterreadingapositivedescription=3.81,=1.47)ratherthananegativedescription(=4.86,=1.58).Inaddition,feelingsofpositivitycorrelatedwithsubjec-tivedistancerepresentations(41)=.43,=.004.Thisresultsupportedtheclosenesshypothesis.Becausewetightlycontrolledthecontent,amount,andconcretenessofthedescriptionofConeyIsland,wedidnotexpectmaineffectsofthevalencemanipulationonvividnessratings.Thiswasconrmed,(41)=0.02,=.98.Regardless,wedidanticipatethatindividualswouldnaturallyvaryinthedegreetowhichtheywouldrepresentConeyIslandvividly.Weexpectedthattheseindividualdifferencesinvividnesswouldpredictrepresentationsofdistance.Thiswasconrmed,asvividnesswasnegativelycorrelatedwithrepresentationsofdistance,(41)==.008.Thisresultprovidespreliminarysupportfortheroleofvividnessinrepresentationsofdistance.Wealsosoughttoruleoutthepossibilitythatsubjectiverepresentationsofdistancevaryasafunctionoftheinteractionbetweenvalenceandvividness,sowetestedfortheinteractionbetweenvalenceandvividnessondistancerepresentation(seeHolmbeck,2002).Usingeffectcoding,wecodedthevalenceconditionvariable(positive=+1,negative=1)andcenteredthevividnessvariable.Weranaregressionwiththesetwopredictorvariablesandtheirinteractionpredictingfeltdistance.Again,wefoundamaineffectofvalencecondition,(39)=2.30,=.027,andamaineffectofvividness,(39)=2.93,=.006.Importantly,wasnointeraction,=.04,(39)=0.28,=.78,suggestingthattheeffectofvividnessondistancerepresentationwasnotmoderatedbyvalencecondition.Study3:DistanceperceptionasafunctionofvividnessInStudy3,weintendedtoprovideexperimentalevidenceforbothclosenesshypothesisandthepositivityvividnesshypoth-.Wepredictedthatpositivelocationsarerepresentedascloserthanlesspositivelocationsbecausetheyaremorevividlydepicted.PrincetonUniversityundergraduateswereinducedtoformpositiveornegativeimpressionsofNewYorkCity.UsingamanipulationproposedbySchwarzetal.(1991),participantsgeneratedeither2or10reasonsthatthecitywaseitherpositiveornegative.Participantsarecapableofgeneratingtworeasonswhythecityispositiveornegativewithrelativeease,sotheytendtomakecongruentinferences:thatthecityisindeedconstruedaspositiveornegative,respectively.Incontrast,theystruggletogenerate10reasonswhythecityispositiveornegative,whichpromptsincongruentinferences:sinceitisdifculttobringtomindevidenceforthecity'spositivityornegativity,itisconstruedasnegativeorpositive,respectively.Thisapproachissuperiortoatwoconditiondesigninwhichparticipantsgenerateafewreasonswhythecityiseitherpositiveornegative,rst,thenumberofreasonsgeneratedisvariedbetweengroups.Second,itcontrolsforthepossibilitythatpositiveandnegativecontentdiffersonotherdimensionsincludingabstractnessandrelevanceofthereasonsgenerated.A.L.Alter,E.Balcetis/JournalofExperimentalSocialPsychologyxxx(2010)xxx Pleasecitethisarticleas:Alter,A.L.,&Balcetis,E.,Fondnessmakesthedistancegrowshorter:Desiredlocationsseemcloserbecausetheyseemmorevivid,JournalofExperimentalSocialPsychology(2010),doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2010.07.018 Accordingly,wepredictedthatparticipantswouldfeelmorepositiveaboutthecityandwouldrepresentitmorevividlywhentheygeneratedeither2positive(acognitivelyuentandeasyexperience)or10negativedescriptions(acognitivelydisuentanddifcultexperience)relativetoconditionswhereparticipantsgenerate2negative(uentandeasy)or10positivedescriptions(disuentanddifcult).Thus,valenceandvividnessweremanipulatedinamannerindependentofcognitiveeaseofgeneratingarepresentation.Aftermanipulatingthepositivityoftheirimpressions,participantsreportedhowfarawayNewYorkseemedfromPrinceton.Consistentwithourpreviousstudies,weexpectedparticipantstorepresentNewYorkasnearertoPrincetonwhentheyfeltmorepositiveaboutNewYork.WealsoexpectedparticipantstoreportimaginingNewYorkmorevividlythemorepositivetheyfeltaboutthecity.Moreover,weexpectedthevividnessofparticipants'imaginationtomediatetherelationshipbetweenhowmuchtheyreportedlikingNewYorkandhownearitseemed.ParticipantsSixtyPrincetonUniversityundergraduatescompletedthisstudyinpartialfulllmentofacourserequirement.Materials,design,andprocedureValenceinductionprocedure.AdoptingtheprocedurepopularizedbySchwarzetal.(1991),weexperimentallyinducedparticipantstoconstrueNewYorkpositivelyornegatively.Theexperimenterrandomlyassignedparticipantstooneoffourconditionsaccordingtoa2(Reasons:2vs.10)×2(Valence:positivevs.negative)between-subjectsdesign.Specically,participantsgeneratedeithertwoortenreasonswhyNewYorkiseitherexcitingandvibrantordirtyanddangerous.Sincepeoplearecapableofgeneratingtwopositiveornegativereasonswithease,theytendtoadoptperceptionsofthetargetthatareconsistentwiththevalenceofthedescriptions.Thus,peoplewhogeneratetworeasonswhyNewYorkisexcitingandvibrantshouldperceivethecitypositively,whereaspeoplewhogeneratetworeasonswhythecityisdirtyanddangerousshouldperceivethecitynegatively.Incontrast,peoplestruggletogenerate10reasonswhyNewYorkiseitherexcitingandvibrantordirtyanddangerous,andtheyinferfromthisdisuentmetacognitiveexperiencethatthesetermsdescribeNewYorkpoorly.Thus,peoplewhogenerate10reasonswhyNewYorkisexcitingandvibrantarelikelytoperceivethecitynegatively,whereasthosewhogenerate10reasonswhyNewYorkisdirtyanddangerousarelikelytoperceivethecitypositively.Distance,vividness,andvalencemeasures.Aftergeneratingdescrip-tionsofNewYork,participantsindicatedhowfarawaytheNewYorkCityfeltfromtheirpositioninPrinceton,NewJerseyona7-pointscale(from1=feelsextremelycloseto7=feelsextremelyfaraway).Toassesspositivity,participantsindicatedhowwelleightwordsdisgustingappealingunpleasant)describedNewYork(from1=notatallaccuratelyto10=veryaccurately).Wereverse-codedthenegativedescriptorstoformapositivityindexmanipulationcheckFinally,toassessvividness,participantsindicatedhowvividlytheycouldpictureNewYorkona7-pointscale(from1=notatallvividlyto7=veryvividly).ResultsanddiscussionManipulationcheckWefoundtheexpectedReasons×Valenceinteraction,(1,56)=5.70,=.02,suchthatparticipantsfeltmorepositiveaboutNewYorkwhentheygenerated2positive(=6.25,.98)ratherthan10positivedescriptionsofthecity(=5.43,=.1.24),(56)=2.80,.01,andmorenegativeaboutthecitywhentheygenerated2negative(=5.75,=1.19)ratherthan10negativedescriptions=5.10,=1.30),(56)=2.03,.05.Sincethemanipulationproducedtheexpectedpatternofresults,wecreatedatwo-levelinducedvalenceindexfortheremaininganalyses.Specically,wecollapsedthe2positiveand10negativedescriptionsconditionstoformaninducedpositivitycondition(=6.01,=1.09);and,similarly,collapsedthe2negativeand10positivedescriptionsconditionstoformaninducednegativitycondition(=5.25,=1.26),(56)=2.48,.02(seeleftpanelofFig.1SubjectivedistancerepresentationsAsexpected,participantsintheinducedpositivityconditionsrepresentedNewYorkasnearer(=3.07,=1.22)thandidparticipantsintheinducednegativityconditions(=4.19,=1.58),(56)=2.97,.005(seerightpanelofFig.1).Thisresultsupportedtheclosenesshypothesis.VividnessratingInpreliminarysupportofthepositivityvividnessmechanism,participantsreportedbeingabletoimagineNewYorkmorevividlywheninducedtoformpositive(=6.24,=.87)ratherthannegativeimpressionsofthecity(=5.45,=1.43),(56)=2.48,.02(seemiddlepanelofFig.1Mediationanalysis:TestingthepositivityvividnesshypothesisdirectlyToexaminewhethervividnessmediatedtherelationshipbetweeninducedpositivityandsubjectivedistancefromNewYorkCity,wethebootstrappingmediationanalysisproceduresuggestedPreacherandHayes(2004).Theanalysisproducedresultsthatwereconsistentwiththisrelationship,asthe95%condenceintervalfortheindirecteffectofinducedpositivityonsubjectivedistance,viathevividnessvariable,didnotincludezero(95%CI=.02.35;seeFig.2).Thisanalysissupportsourhypothesisthatpositivelyconstruedlocationsseemnearerbecausetheyareperceivedmorevividlythanlessappealinglocations.Insum,NewYorkseemedcloserandwasmorevividwhenparticipantsfeltmorepositiveaboutthecity;thecityseemednearerthemorevividlyparticipantsimaginedit;andpositivitytowardthecitynolongerpredictedsubjectivedistancefromthecitywhenvividnesswasincludedinthesamesimultaneousregressionanalysis.GeneraldiscussionInthreestudies,peoplesystematicallyrepresenteddesirablelocationsasnearerthanlessdesirablelocations,thusprovidingevidenceforthehypothesis.InStudy1,walkersoverestimatedhowfartheyhadtraveledwhentheirdestinationwasmorepositivethantheirorigin,whereastheyunderestimatedhowmuchofthejourneytheyhadcompletedwhentheiroriginwasmorepositivethantheirdestination.InStudy2,visitorstoWashingtonSquareParkinManhattanrepresentedConeyIslandasnearerafterreadingapositivedescriptioncomparedtoanegativedescription.InStudy3,studentsinNewJerseywereinducedtoconstrueNewYorkCitypositivelyornegatively.Participantswhogeneratedpositiveimpressionsofthecityrepresenteditascloserthanthosewhogeneratednegativeimpressionsthecity.Wecollectedfouradditionaldatasetsinwhichweexploredtherelationshipbetweenthepositivitywithwhichparticipantsconstruedalocationandtheirrepresentationsofdistancetothatlocation.In Weevaluatedanalternativemediationmodelinwhichvividnessproducedasenseofnearnessbecauseitincreasedthepositivityofparticipants'evaluationsofNewYorkCity.Thismodeldescribedthedatapoorly,asthe95%condenceintervalfortheindirecteffectofthevividnessonsubjectivedistance,viathepositivityindex,includedzero(95%CI=A.L.Alter,E.Balcetis/JournalofExperimentalSocialPsychologyxxx(2010)xxx Pleasecitethisarticleas:Alter,A.L.,&Balcetis,E.,Fondnessmakesthedistancegrowshorter:Desiredlocationsseemcloserbecausetheyseemmorevivid,JournalofExperimentalSocialPsychology(2010),doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2010.07.018 thesefourdatasets,wedidnotmanipulatevalencebutsimplymeasurednaturallyoccurringdifferencesinparticipants'feelingsforaplaceandaskedthemtoindicatehowfarawayitfeltusingthesamemeasuresdescribedinStudies2and3.InonedatasetcollectedfromparticipantsatNewYorkUniversity,therewasasignicantrelationshipbetweenfeelingsforanddistancetotheLincolnMemorialinWashingtonDC,(52)==.001.InthreeotherdatasetscollectedfromparticipantsatCornellUniversity,therewasacantrelationshipbetweenfeelingsforanddistancefromIthaca,NYtotheStatueofLiberty,(60)==.04,toNewYorkCityin(21)==.02,andtoPhiladelphia,(25)==.02.Weperformedameta-analysisonthesefouradditionalstudiesusingthemethodofHunterandSchmidt1990;seealso).ConrmingStudies13,thismeta-analysissuggeststhatpositivitywithwhichparticipantsnaturallyconstruealocationpredicteddecreasedrepresentationsofdistance,=8.02,Asecondaimofthispaperwastoexploreonecognitivemechanismbywhichdesirablelocationsarerepresentedascloser.Weexpectedthatthevividnessofparticipants'construalofalocationwouldpredictrepresentationsofdistance.Twostudiesprovidesupportforthevividnesshypothesis.AlthoughStudy2tightlycontrolledthecontentofthedescriptionsofConeyIslandbetweenthevalenceconditions,increasedvividnesswithwhichparticipantsnaturallyconstruedConeyIslandpredictedlesserrepresentationsofdistance.Importantly,weexperimentallytestedthemediatingroleofvividnessinStudy3.WefoundthatstudentsinNewJerseywhogeneratedpositiveimpressionsofNewYorkCityrepresenteditmorevividlyandasnearerthanthosewhogeneratednegativeimpressionsthecity.TherelationshipbetweenpositivityandnearnesswasmediatedbythetendencyforperceiverstoimagineNewYorkmorevividlythemorepositivetheyfeltaboutthecity.Insum,peoplerepresenteddesirabledestinationsasnearthanundesir-abledestinations,andthisrelationshipemergedinpartbecausepeopleimagineddesirabledestinationswithgreatervividness.SituationalmoderatorOurdatasuggestthatdesirablelocationsseemcloserthanlessdesirablelocationsbecausedesirablelocationsaremorevividlydepicted.However,thatmaynotalwaysbethecase.Indeed,itmaynotbeadaptivetorepresentpleasantlocationsasnearerthanlesspleasantones.Forinstance,insomecontexts,liketheonesweexaminedinthispaper,thecostsofmisperceivingdistancestolocations,particularlynegativeones,arelow.Inthiscase,itmaynotbecostlyforperceiverstoxateon,vividlydepict,andsubsequentlyexperiencepleasantlocationsascloser.Infact,vividlydepictingapleasantlocationandexperiencingitasclosermightenergizetheperceivertocontinueonhisorherjourney(cf.Liberman&Forster,).However,inothercircumstances,experiencingthreateninglocationsasclosermightenergizeavoidanceofthoselocations.Forexample,whenevaluatingtheprospectofcuttingacrossafewneighborhoodstoshortenalate-nightwalk,itmightbefunctionallyadaptivetoexperiencethedangerouspartsoftownascloserthantheyactuallyare.Ultimately,successfulnavigationofone'senviron-mentmaydependonacognitivesystemthatissensitivetoprevailingcuesofthreatorsafety;peoplemightadoptanapproach-based Fig.1.PositivitytowardsNewYork(manipulationcheck),perceivedvividnessofNewYork(mediatingvariable),andsubjectivedistancefromNewYork(dependentmeasure)asafunctionofinducedpositivityinStudy3. Vividness of NYC = -.35* from NYC Induced Positivity = -.29*) Fig.2.MediationanalysisinStudy3,testingwhethervividnessmediatedtherelationshipbetweeninducedpositivityandperceiveddistancefromNewYork.Directrelationshipsarerepresentedinparentheses,andrelationshipscontrollingfortheremainingvariablesinthemodelaredepictedwithoutparentheses.Note:*.05;**A.L.Alter,E.Balcetis/JournalofExperimentalSocialPsychologyxxx(2010)xxx Pleasecitethisarticleas:Alter,A.L.,&Balcetis,E.,Fondnessmakesthedistancegrowshorter:Desiredlocationsseemcloserbecausetheyseemmorevivid,JournalofExperimentalSocialPsychology(2010),doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2010.07.018 orientationtowardappealingstimuliinasafeenvironment,whereastheymightinsteadadoptanavoidance-basedorientationtowardunappealingstimuliinathreateningenvironment.ndingsbridgetheliteraturesonmotivatedperceptionandmetacognition,suggestingthatmotivatedperceptionsometimesoccursthroughmetacognition:peopleconstrueparticularlyvividimagesofdesiredlocations,andsubsequentlyoverestimatetheirproximitytothoseeasilyimaginedlocations.ReturningtotheRussianproverbatthebeginningofthispaper,perhapsthedistantbarseemscloserthanthenearbychurch,becausetheperceivercanalmosttasterstbeerwhilefailingtoconjureanimageofthechurchatall.ReferencesAlter,A.L.,&Oppenheimer,D.M.(2008).Effectsofuencyonpsychologicaldistanceandmentalconstrual(orwhyNewYorkisalargecity,butNewYorkisacivilizedPsychologicalScience,161Alter,A.L.,&Oppenheimer,D.M.(2009).Unitingthetribesofuencytoformametacognitivenation.PersonalityandSocialPsychologyReview,219Balcetis,E.,&Dunning,D.(2006).Seewhatyouwanttosee:MotivationalinuencesonJournalofPersonalityandSocialPsychology,612Balcetis,E.,&Dunning,D.(2007).Cognitivedissonancereductionandperceptionofthephysicalworld.PsychologicalScience,917Balcetis,E.,&Dunning,D.(2010a).Wishfulseeing:Desiredobjectsareseenascloser.PsychologicalScience,147Balcetis,E.,&Dunning,D.(2010b).Wishfulseeing:Motivationalinuencesonvisualperceptionofthephysicalenvironment.InE.Balcetis,&G.D.Lassiter(Eds.),socialpsychologyofvisualperception.NewYork:PsychologyPress.Balcetis,E.,&Lassiter,G.D.(2010).Thesocialpsychologyofvisualperception.NewYork:PsychologyPress.Bhalla,M.,&Proftt,D.R.(1999).VisualmotorrecalibrationingeographicalslantJournalofExperimentalPsychology:HumanPerceptionandPerformance,1076Brosch,T.,Sander,D.,Pourtois,G.,&Scherer,K.R.(2008).Beyondfear:Rapidspatialorientingtowardpositiveemotionalstimuli.PsychologicalScience,362Bruner,J.S.,&Goodman,C.C.(1947).ValueandneedasorganizingfactorsinJournalofAbnormalandSocialPsychology,33Calvo,M.G.,&Avero,P.(2005).Timecourseofattentionalbiastoemotionalscenesinanxiety:Gazedirectionandduration.Cognition&Emotion,433Dollard,J.,&Miller,N.E.(1950).Personalityandpsychotherapy.NewYork:McGraw-Hill.Epley,N.,&Whitchurch,E.(2008).Mirror,mirroronthewall:Enhancementinself-PersonalityandSocialPsychologyBulletin1159Field,A.P.(2001).Meta-analysisofcorrelationcoefcients:AMonteCarlocomparisonxed-andrandom-effectsmethods.PsychologicalMethods,161Fujita,K.,Henderson,M.,Eng,J.,Trope,Y.,&Liberman,N.(2006).Spatialdistanceandmentalconstrualofsocialevents.PsychologicalScience,278Holmbeck,G.N.(2002).Post-hocprobingofsignicantmoderationalandmediationaleffectsinstudiesofpediatricpopulations.JournalofPediatricPsychology,8796.Hunter,J.E.,&Schmidt,F.L.(1990).Methodsofmeta-analysis:CorrectingerrorandbiasinresearchNewburyPark,CA:Sage.Huttenlocher,J.,Hedges,L.V.,&Duncan,S.(1991).Categoriesandparticulars:Prototypeeffectsinestimatingspatiallocation.PsychologicalReview,352Johnston,L.,Miles,L.,&Macrae,N.(2010).Maleorfemale?:Aninvestigationoffactorsthatmodulatethesex-categorizationofstrangers.InE.Balcetis,&G.D.LassiterThesocialpsychologyofvisualperception.NewYork:PsychologyPress.Lewin,K.(1935).Adynamictheoryofpersonality.NewYork:McGrawHill.Libby,L.,Shaeffer,E.M.,&Eibach,R.P.(2009).Seeingmeaninginaction:Abidirectionallinkbetweenvisualperspectiveandactionidenticationlevel.JournalofExperimentalPsychology:General,503Liberman,N.,&Forster,J.(2008).Expectancy,valueandpsychologicaldistance:Anewlookatgoalgradients.SocialCognition,515McNamara,T.P.(1986).Mentalrepresentationsofspatialrelations.Cognitive,87ugshaupt,T.,Mosimann,U.P.,vonWartburg,R.,Schmitt,W.,Nyffeler,T.,&Muri,R.M.(2005).Hypervigilanceavoidancepatterninspiderphobia.JournalofAnxiety,105Preacher,K.J.,&Hayes,A.F.(2004).SPSSandSASproceduresforestimatingindirecteffectsinsimplemediationmodels.BehaviorResearchMethods,Instruments,&,717D.R.(2006).Distanceperception.CurrentDirectionsinPsychologicalResearch,131tt,D.R.,Stefanucci,J.,Banton,T.,&Epstein,W.(2003).Theroleofeffortinperceivingdistance.PsychologicalScience,106Schultheiss,O.C.,&Hale,J.A.(2007).Implicitmotivesmodulateattentionalorientingtoperceivedfacialexpressionsofemotion.MotivationandEmotion,13Schwarz,N.,Bless,H.,Strack,F.,Klumpp,G.,RittenauerSchatka,H.,&Simons,A.(1991).Easeofretrievalasinformation:Anotherlookattheavailabilityheuristic.JournalofPersonalityandSocialPsychology,195Tversky,B.(2003).Structuresofmentalspaces:Howpeoplethinkaboutspace.EnvironmentandBehavior,66Williams,L.E.,&Bargh,J.A.(2008).Keepingone'sdistance:Theinuenceofspatialdistancescuesonaffectandevaluation.PsychologicalScience,302AdamL.AlterisanassistantprofessorofmarketingattheSternSchoolofBusiness,withanafliatedappointmentinthepsychologydepartment,atNewYorkUniversity.EmilyBalcetisisanassistantprofessorofpsychologyatNewYorkUniversity.WethankLauraBradford,KenFujita,ShanaCole,MegGerbasi,JustinKruger,AlisonNewman,andEeshaSharmafortheirinvaluableassistanceatvariousstagesofthisresearchproject. ReadersfamiliarwithConstrualLevelTheory(CLT:e.g.,Fujita,Henderson,Eng,Trope,&Liberman,2006)mightwonderwhetherourhypothesescanbederivedfromCLT.Wearguethattheycannot,asrepresentationsofspatialdistancearenotaderivativeofpsychologicaldistance(seeWilliams&Bargh,2008).AlthoughCLTdealswiththeconstructsofnearnessandrepresentation,webelieveourresultsareorthogonaltoCRT.Specically,CLTsuggeststhatnearerobjectsareperceivedrelativelymoreconcretelyanddistantobjectsrelativelymoreabstractly,butitdoesnotsuggestarelationshipbetweenconcretenessandvividness.Recentempiricalevidencealsosuggeststhatpeopleconstruestimuliwithequalvividnessregardlessofwhethertheyadoptaconcreteorabstractconstrualstyle(Libby,Shaeffer,&Eibach,).Accordingly,oursuggestionthatvividnessmediatestherelationshipbetweenpositivityandperceivedproximitydoesnotfollowfromCLT.A.L.Alter,E.Balcetis/JournalofExperimentalSocialPsychologyxxx(2010)xxx Pleasecitethisarticleas:Alter,A.L.,&Balcetis,E.,Fondnessmakesthedistancegrowshorter:Desiredlocationsseemcloserbecausetheyseemmorevivid,JournalofExperimentalSocialPsychology(2010),doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2010.07.018