When Is It Going To Happen? How Temporal Distance Influences Processing for Risky–Choice Framing Tasks

Abstract

In this article we examine how temporal proximity of an event influences decision task processing and, in turn, the likelihood of framing effects. We hypothesized that events occurring in the relatively near future should be more likely to induce the analytic processing style and result in attenuated framing effects. Events occurring in the more distant future should be processed with the holistic style and framing effects should be relatively more pronounced. In Study 1, we assessed how temporal proximity influenced the perceived relevance for an event occurring at different temporal proximities. In Study 2, we tested the influence of temporal proximity using the Asian disease problem. In Study 3, we tested the influence of temporal proximity with a different type of risky–choice decision task and investigated evidence for analytic/holistic processing. The results provide converging support for a temporal–relevance hypothesis.