Self-Regulatory Mechanisms in the Evaluation of Arts: The Influence of Regulatory Focus and Psychological Distance on Attitudes by Katrin Schimmel A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology Approved, Thesis Committee Prof. Dr. Jens Förster, Chair Prof. Dr. Ulrich Kühnen Prof. Dr. Lioba Werth Date of Defense: May 12, 2006 School of Humanities and Social Sciences Thank you! I am deeply thankful to many people who made this endeavor possible. First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor Jens Förster. He introduced me to a new way of looking at things by teaching me how subtle cues can influence thinking and behavior. This was not only an invaluable contribution for my doctoral thesis but also for my way of looking at things in everyday life. Moreover, I would like to thank him for his unlimited theoretical and practical support and for opening so many opportunities to me. I would like to thank Uli Kühnen and Lioba Werth for their valuable advice, critical comments and uncomplicated support. A very special “thank you” goes to my dear colleagues Markus Denzler, Stefanie Kuschel and Amina Özelsel for their prompt, friendly and effective everyday support. Markus, thanks for having been my tutor at IUB and for unforgettable laughs at 2:30 pm. Steffi, thanks for straightening my thoughts and supporting me not only during our conference stays. Mina, thanks for great professional and personal experiences and for the Italian lunches. I would like to thank IUB for its support and providing magnificent research opportunities to me. In particular, I would like to express my gratitude to Max Kaase who does not only care about IUB in general in a great manner, but does not lose track of the needs of every single person. Research would not be possible without the work of many “leprechauns”. A huge thank you goes to our gorgeous lab-team for helping me preparing, conducting and analyzing my studies and for much more than that: Florian Albert, Anna Berencsy, Regina Bode, Aga Bojarska, Maren Breuer, Nina Burger, Laura Dannenberg, Maria Earle, Karla Fettich, Marcela Fialova, Hana Fleissigova, Rebecca Hitchcock, Kirils Jegorovs, Dora Jelen, Silke Kleinschmidt, Julia Klotz, Andreas Kolling, Maria Kordonowska, Kaska Kubacka, Janina Marguc, Mayuri Nigam, Basia Pietrawska, Malgosia Skorek, Thomas Stemmler, Aska Styczynska, Karol Tyszka, Rytis Vitkauskas, Alexandra Vulpe, Julian Wucherpfennig, and Nika Yugay. I would like to thank Regina, Basia and Andries for valuable discussions and comments on the manuscript. Sarah Horn and Ashleigh Ferris are thanked for editing my thesis. Thanks to my friends and family, in particular to Julia, Simone, Anne G., Anne R., Laetitia, Myriam, Christiane, Frank, Ferdinand, Deborah, Ale, Silvia, Helga, Wulf, Olaf, Waltraud, Knut, Gisela, Regina and mamma Sara. Jessica, thank you so very much for your emotional support and the marvelous coffee. Klaus and Antonio, thank you for functioning as my “role models” for people differing in regulatory foci. Antonio, mille grazie! “The way to a woman’s heart is through her stomach”. Thank you so very much for making my life more delicious and colorful in times of a lot of work. I am deeply thankful to my Dad who introduced me to art in my childhood and made this all possible by simply having been and being there. Tilman and Anna, thank you for being the best siblings one could imagine! I would like to dedicate this work to my beloved parents. They supported me with great interest, tenderness and generosity through all stages in my life. My Mom and my Dad taught me how to focus on the global picture without losing sense for the particular details and refinements of life. Thank you so very much. Table of Contents SUMMARY .............................................................................................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................... 3 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND .......................................................................................... 5 Regulatory Focus as a Distinctive Characteristic of Human Beings......................................... 5 Conventionality as a Distinctive Characteristic of Artworks .................................................... 7 Empirical Aesthetics.................................................................................................................. 9 The Role of Strategic Inclinations in Aesthetic Judgment................................................. 9 The Role of Processing Modes in Aesthetic Judgment.................................................... 11 Meaning Extraction ..................................................................................................... 13 Categorical Processing ................................................................................................ 16 Conclusions Empirical Aesthetics ................................................................................... 20 Regulatory Focus Theory ........................................................................................................ 21 Regulatory Focus and Strategic Inclinations.................................................................. 22 Regulatory Focus and Processing Modes ....................................................................... 22 Regulatory Focus and Meaning Extraction ................................................................. 26 Regulatory Focus and Categorical Processing ............................................................ 27 Conclusions Regulatory Focus Theory ........................................................................... 28 Construal Level Theory........................................................................................................... 30 Main Hypotheses and Outlook on the Experiments................................................................ 31 EMPIRICAL FINDINGS........................................................................................................ 35 Pretest...................................................................................................................................... 35 Method............................................................................................................................. 35 Results.............................................................................................................................. 36 Discussion........................................................................................................................ 37 Study 1..................................................................................................................................... 39 Method............................................................................................................................. 39 Results.............................................................................................................................. 42 Discussion........................................................................................................................ 44 Study 2..................................................................................................................................... 46 Method............................................................................................................................. 46 Results.............................................................................................................................. 48 Discussion........................................................................................................................ 50 Study 3..................................................................................................................................... 52 Method............................................................................................................................. 53 Results.............................................................................................................................. 56 Discussion........................................................................................................................ 67 Study 4..................................................................................................................................... 68 Method............................................................................................................................. 68 Results.............................................................................................................................. 70 Discussion........................................................................................................................ 74 Study 5..................................................................................................................................... 75 Method............................................................................................................................. 76 Results.............................................................................................................................. 78 Discussion........................................................................................................................ 80 DISCUSSION.........................................................................................................................