New research suggests how stepping back from a decision can help you make the choice that will most benefit you and others involved. In the study, the researchers found that people tended to make the most efficient decision — the one that resulted in the most general value for the group — when they looked at the big picture or when they lost sight of the wood for the trees.
This "big picture" perspective is what psychologists call "high-level construal" and involves psychological distance from the decision. The distance might be time — say, when you're planning an event a year from now. Or it could be far away because it involves people who are far away, or because you're considering a hypothetical, rather than real, situation, the researcher said. “At a high level, you can step back and look at the consequences of your decision and see more clearly how resources can best be allocated,” he said.
In one experiment, the researchers had 106 students complete a task that prompted them to think large-scale or think in a more direct, contemporary way. Participants were given the goal of improving health and were asked to list the goals it could help achieve, such as 'living longer'. This puts them in a grand picture of the mind. Others were tasked with making a list of achieving the goal of better health, such as "exercising." This brought them into a contemporary state of mind.
All participants then played an economic game in which they had to make nine decisions about sharing money between themselves and four other people. They were told that the others did not know who made the decision, and none of the participants could share the money.
For half of the participants, maximizing benefits always meant preference for others. For example, for every $1 they gave to themselves in the game, each of the other four people would lose $9. The situation was reversed for the other half of the participants – maximizing the benefits always meant being for themselves.
Findings showed that participants who were asked to think large-scale (constructed at a high level) were more likely than others to make decisions that would maximize total value—whether they were the ones who benefited most or the others.
A second study was similar, but in this case the researchers used a different method to create psychological distance in some participants. Half of the participants were told that the rewards would be distributed over a year (which would encourage big-picture thinking) and the other half were told they would be distributed tomorrow (less imaging).
As in the first study, those participants believed that the big picture would be more likely to maximize the overall value to the group, whether it benefited the most or not. Two other experiments confirmed these findings using different scenarios.
