Psychological distance and creativity

The story doesn’t end here. We have only looked at construal levels based on how information is processed at different conceptual levels. There is an overarching aspect to construal levels – the function of distance. The more figurative “distance” there is between 2 points, the higher the construal. The construal level theory of psychological distance posits that when the figurative distance between you and what you are thinking about or perceiving increases, you tend to focus on the bigger picture. The closer you get or the more you zoom-in, the more you focus on the details – like standing next to a bunch of trees and then moving away till all you see is a forest or a bunch of trees as a green smudge in concrete.

This figurative distance is psychological, spatial, temporal, personal, or informational. However, they are often clubbed together as psychological distance even though each category is different.

So far, we’ve only looked at the informational distance.

One example of psychological distance is how talking in the 3rd person about your own anxiety can reduce anxiety. Instead of saying “I’m am tense and the date is going to suck,” saying “Aditya/he is tense and his date will suck” lowers the emotional weight. High construals lower emotional weight. The word “I” is specific and closer to your “self,” making it low construal & specific. The word “he” or “Aditya” adds psychological distance.

Temporal distance is the reason why people say “time will heal and time will make things easy to deal with.” When you look back, it feels like that was true. Events from the past begin to lose their emotional weight. That’s also why we end up thinking of amazing comebacks and witty remarks long after the moment goes away. The temporal distance helps us create this creative insight. The French have a word for it – L’esprit de l’escalier. The typical ‘Aha moment’ of creativity may be a function of temporal distance where the brain carries on unconscious processes (incubation) at a very high construal level and present the conscious brain with a brilliant solution.

An example of spatial distance is changing the perceived location of a problem. In one study^[7], researchers asked participants to solve a few narration based problems which demanded creative solutions. The researchers manipulated spatial distance by telling some participants that they were gathering data for a nearby university (3.2km away) or a faraway university (3200km away). Participants who were “gathering data” for the faraway university produced significantly more creative solutions. Even changing the distance perspective^[8] before a task can help children be more original and unique.

Personal distance is interesting as well. Research shows^[9] that humans tend to be more creative in solving problems for other people than for themselves. The concept of self is closer to yourself than it is to other people. Thinking for other people tends to increase the construal level and perhaps deter personal/emotional barriers to creativity.