The relationships between affect dimensions and level of construal

Abstract

The relationship between affect and cognition is a central topic of interest in psychology. In this study, we focus on the relationship of affect valence and activation with construal level. Existing findings are inconsistent. We propose that these inconsistencies may result from the interdependency of affect valence and activation and propose that valence and activation interact in predicting construal level. Specifically, we propose that, overall, valence has a positive effect on construal level, and that activation accentuates the effect of valence. We test our predictions through a text analysis of event descriptions in four data sets: TripAdvisor hotel reviews (N = 330,853); Yelp restaurant reviews (N = 648,974); Amazon Digital Music reviews (N = 1,518,409); and Twitter Negative Emotions database (N = 8,756). Results confirm the predicted V-shaped relationship between valence and activation, and the moderating effect of activation on the relationship between valence and construal level. We discuss these findings and the inconsistencies across studies.