Too much information: The perils of nondiagnostic information in negotiations.

2011 ◽  
Vol 96 (1) ◽  
pp. 192-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott S. Wiltermuth ◽  
Margaret A. Neale
Keyword(s):  
Nondiagnostic Information

Stepping back to see what matters: Psychological distance reduces diagnosticity neglect in social comparison

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Yudkin
Keyword(s):  
Social Comparison ◽  
Real World ◽  
Social Comparisons ◽  
Psychological Distance ◽  
The Self ◽  
Bean Bag ◽  
Nondiagnostic Information ◽  
What Matters

Social comparisons differ in their diagnosticity—that is, in the extent to which their outcomes are attributable to sources internal versus external to the self. While logic suggests that people should give more credence to diagnostic than to nondiagnostic comparisons, research shows that people often overlook comparison diagnosticity, leading them to drawing inaccurate conclusions about themselves—a phenomenon known as diagnosticity neglect. Here I examine a process that may reduce diagnosticity neglect: psychological distance. Because psychological distance—and the mental abstraction it engenders—helps people to organize information hierarchically, it may allow people to better distinguish between diagnostic and nondiagnostic information. Four experiments, using two distinct tasks (a bean bag throwing game and an anagrams quiz) and two forms of psychological distance (social and hypothetical), confirm these predictions; a preregistered fifth experiment demonstrates their real-world consequences. Overall, this research highlights the power of psychological distance to reduce diagnosticity neglect.

Inferences based on nondiagnostic information

1977 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.Michael Troutman ◽  
James Shanteau
Keyword(s):  
Nondiagnostic Information
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