Time: 13:00-14:30 on Tuesday, Mar.28, 2023

Location: Room 624, Siyuan Faculty Building

Topic: The Implications of Psychological Distance for Numerical Judgment

Host: Assistant Professor Mengran Xu, Marketing, FDSM

Speaker: Associate Professor Dengfeng Yan, Marketing, NYU Shanghai

Abstract: Many numerical expressions contain a separator such as a comma (e.g., 1,234) or a decimal point (e.g., 12.34) that divides the number into left and right parts. This research examines how individuals compare such numbers as a function of psychological distance. Integrating insights from research on attention, numerical cognition, and mental construal, we hypothesize that psychological distancing increases the perceived changeability of left (vs. right) digits to a greater degree, which leads individuals to pay more attention and assign greater weight to the left digits in judgment. Seven studies offer triangulating support for this theorizing and the underlying mechanism. In addition, we show that this effect is attenuated when individuals do not subscribe to the belief that numerical information is changeable and when the separator is absent. This research offers additional nuance to our understanding of numerical cognition and how psychological distance influences the construal of information.

Bio: Dengfeng Yan is an associate professor of marketing at NYU Shanghai. Prior to joining NYU Shanghai, he was an associate professor of marketing at the University of Texas at San Antonio. His current research is focused on how people process quantitative information. Dengfeng’s research has been published in Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.