Using construal level theory to motivate accounting research: A literature review

Abstract

This study reviews extant literature on construal level theory (CLT) of psychological distance (Liberman and Trope 1998; Trope and Liberman 2003). According to CLT, the concept of psychological distance constitutes a common meaning shared by four interrelated dimensions: temporal distance, social distance, spatial distance, and hypotheticality. The core premise is that psychological distance is tied to the level of mental construal (i.e., mental representation), such that more distant objects (or situations) are construed at a higher level and higher-level construals evoke thoughts of more distant objects (Trope and Liberman 2010). CLT further suggests that mental construals influence evalua..