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Receivers' Expectations for Abstract Versus Concrete Construal

Conversational Relevance as a Determinant of Construal Level

VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands, ae.clark{at}psy.vu.nl

Gün R. Semin

Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

How does conversational context shape the construal level of future events? According to construal-level theory, temporally distant events are construed more abstractly than close events due to an association between distance and construal level. The authors have argued that situated conversational relevancies determine construal level and therefore that construal level is flexible and determined in situ. Building on research that examined construal level in a language-production paradigm, this research examined the recipient's expectations for abstract versus concrete messages. Results supported the hypotheses that although temporal distance information should direct construal expectancies when shared knowledge information is not salient, social rules dictate that when salient, shared knowledge information determines construal level, overriding temporal distance. These findings support the reciprocal nature of conversational relevance and the symmetry between language production and reception.

Key Words: construal level • conversational relevance • shared knowledge • socially situated cognition • linguistic abstraction

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