Department or Program

Psychology

Abstract

The current research examines how consumer behavior is affected by social distance in judgments about members of one’s political and ideological ingroup versus outgroup. The influence of social distance was examined through construal level theory (CLT), contending that as psychological distance increases, mental representations become more abstract, or move to a higher level of construal (Trope & Liberman, 2010). In Study 1, a sample of 205 respondents recruited from CloudResearch, each of whom identified as either Democrat or Republican, completed an online survey. Participants were presented with a target of either their political ingroup or outgroup. Replicating Liviatan et al. (2008), participants assessed the likelihood of the target engaging in four different consumer scenarios as well as the relative importance of feasibility or desirability in the decision. Based on findings by Liviatan et al. (2008), I hypothesized that for ingroup targets, assuming they evoke reactions parallel to those of their similar others, participants would favor feasibility in likelihood and importance consideration for the target’s choice, with the opposite true of (dissimilar) outgroup targets. The results did not support predictions, as desirability was given greater weight than feasibility, regardless of social distance in ratings of likelihood and importance. Study 2 employed a similar design with 202 participants, modified to elicit stronger feelings of closeness for ingroup targets and distance from outgroup targets. Ingroup and outgroup were operationalized through ideological identity instead of partisan affiliation to strengthen the manipulation of social distance. Even so, similar results were obtained, again contrary to predictions.

Level of Access

Open Access

First Advisor

Sargent, Michael

Date of Graduation

5-2026

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Number of Pages

88

Components of Thesis

1 pdf file

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