Measuring the Psychological Distance between an Organization and Its Members-The Construction and Validation of a New Scale

Remote work arrangement: a blessing in disguise for socially anxious individuals

This research examines the link between social anxiety disorder (SAD), psychological distance (PD), and burnout using survey data from 463 software development workers who are currently working remotely. According to the results of the study, SAD was associated with higher PD, but, in contrast to what had been shown in earlier studies, this higher PD had no effect on the participants' reported levels of burnout. Both psychological safety and workplace attachment orientation (WAO) were tested for their moderating effects in this study. According to the study's findings, the link between SAD and PD was moderated by WAO but not by psychological safety. The findings of this study underscore the importance of conducting additional research on the challenges faced by people with social anxiety in the workplace and the steps that can be taken by employers to better accommodate them.

How Social Identity Affects Green Food Purchase Intention: The Serial Mediation Effect of Green Perceived Value and Psychological Distance

As the global population continues to grow, the impact of environmental damage and resource depletion has been severely increased. In this context, green food gains tremendous potential as a sustainable solution. This study establishes a model framework around social identity, psychological distance, green perceived value, and purchase intention from the perspective of social identity to explore the impact the social group has on individual green food purchase intention. Data from 497 questionnaires collected in China were validated using SPSS26 and SmartPLS4. The results demonstrated that the model exhibited excellent explanatory power for psychological distance (R2 = 47.5%), green perceived value (R2 = 48.2%), and purchase intention of green food (R2 = 54.7%). Path analysis showed that social identity, psychological distance, and green perceived value significantly positively affected green food purchase intention. The results also show that social identity significantly positively affected psychological distance and green perceived value, while psychological distance has a significant positive influence on green perceived value. Additionally, it is concluded that psychological distance and green perceived value have significant mediating and serial mediating effects on social identity and green food purchase intention. These findings bridge the research gap concerning consumers' green food purchase intention from a group perspective, thereby offering great insights for the formulation of sustainable policies. Furthermore, the study provides both theoretical and practical implications for the expansion of the green food consumption market.

Occupational mental health of non-family members in family firms: Evidence from Pakistan

Family-owned firms display distinct dynamics as compared to other firms. Consequently, the outcomes and consequences of these dynamics are also expected to be different. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of perceived employee-organization psychological distance (EOPD) on the occupational mental health (OMH) of the employees. Considering the complexities associated with employee-employer relationship, the study also investigated how this relationship between PD and OMH might be mediated by psychological safety (PS) perceived by the employees. Furthermore, the study also included proactive personality (PP) as a potential moderator of the relationship between PD and OMH. Results using SEM and fsQCA show a partial mediation effect on psychological safety. The study contributes by examining the distinct nature of family firms and their impact on the mental health of non-family member employees. This study contributes to the family firm literature by adopting a novel methodological approach to unveil the complexity behind the relationship between employees and owner-employers of family firms.

Psychological distance and user engagement in online exhibitions: Visualization of moiré patterns based on electroencephalography signals

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the exhibition of artworks in museums and galleries. Many have displayed their collection online. In this context, experiencing an online exhibition is essential for visitors to appreciate and understand the artwork. Compared with offline exhibitions, visitors to online exhibitions are often unable to communicate their experiences with other visitors. Therefore, in this study, by facilitating communication via Zoom call, we established a system that allows two people to visit the museum together through the Google Arts and Culture (GA&C) website. To reduce the psychological distance between online visitors and help increase user engagement, we designed and developed a media device based on moiré pattern visualization of electroencephalography (EEG) signals. The participants were divided into two groups to visit the online museum, communicating remotely through Zoom. The objective of this study was to test whether a real-time EEG signal visualization device could help close the psychological distance between participants and whether it could increase user engagement with the online exhibition. Participants were randomly assigned to either the normal online exhibition experience (NOEE) group or EEG signal visualization device (ESVD) group. Participants in the NOEE group experienced four online exhibitions (Task1, Task2, Task3, and Task4) together (two participants per test unit). The conditions for participants in the ESVD group remained the same, apart from adding a media device to enable them to visualize EEG signals. A total of 40 university students participated in this study. Independent samples t-tests revealed that participants in the ESVD group perceived a significantly closer psychological distance between themselves and the participants on the opposite side than those in the NOEE group (t = −2.699; p = 0.008 < 0.05). A one-way ANOVA revealed that participants experienced Task3 with significantly closer psychological distance assessments than Task1 (p = 0.002 < 0.05), Task2 (p = 0.000 < 0.05), and Task4 (p = 0.001 < 0.05). Repeated ANOVAs revealed that participants in the ESVD group had higher overall user engagement than those in the NOEE group, with marginal significance (p = 0.056 < 0.1). Thus, this study shows that EEG visualization media devices can reduce the psychological distance between two participants when experiencing an online exhibition. Moreover, it can increase user engagement to some extent.

An application of the dual identity model and active categorization to increase intercultural closeness

The enhancement of social inclusion is a key to maintaining cohesion in society and to foster the benefits of cultural diversity. Using insights from the Dual Identity Model (DIM) with a special focus on active categorization, we develop an intervention to increase social inclusion. Our intervention encourages the participants to (re-)categorize on a superordinate level (i.e., a human identity) while being exposed to their own culture. Across a set of experiments, we test the efficacy of our intervention against control conditions on the effect of social inclusion, measured by perceived social distance. Results show an increase in cultural closeness and provide preliminary support for the use of a DIM-based intervention to increase intercultural inclusion

Can empowering leadership promote employees’ pro-environmental behavior? Empirical analysis based on psychological distance

Leadership styles, especially empowering leadership, affect the psychological relationship between employees and organizations, and then affect employees’ positive behavior in the organization. In this research, we studied the effects of empowering leadership and psychological distance on employees’ pro-environmental behavior and explored the mechanism of green organizational climate (GOC). By adopting correlation analysis, statistical analysis, and regression analysis, we conducted a multisource field study of 873 valid employee questionnaires to verify our theoretical model. The results showed that empowering leadership had a significant positive impact on psychological distance and employees’ pro-environmental behavior; and psychological distance played a partly intermediation role in the relationship between empowering leadership and employees’ pro-environmental behavior. Moreover, GOC can promote employees’ pro-environmental behavior, but it cannot regulate between psychological distance and employees’ pro-environmental behavior. The findings obtained some intriguing insights that could help to better guide employees toward pro-environmental behavior.

Research on the variations in individual waste separation behavior due to different information strategies-Mediating effects of psychological distance

Although information intervention can guide individual behavior, there are variations in information interpretation and processing results caused by different psychological distances. This study explored the explanation mechanism underlying individual psychological distances and their effects on different information intervention strategies that aim to improve waste separation behavior. The survey sample data obtained from large-scale field intervention experiments were analyzed using regression analysis, a difference-in-difference test, and T-tests. The results showed that (1) psychological distance has a significant mediating effect on the interaction between the cognition of separation and waste separation behavior; (2) modeling is a form of information intervention effectively promotes individual waste separation behavior and the waste separation behavior relationship; (3) among groups with different cognitions of separation, modeling can significantly promote the waste separation behavior of the group with low-level concerns as it improves their habit and citizen dimensions. The publicity and education strategies can positively promote the habit dimension of the group with low-level concerns, but it has a negative effect on the waste separation behavior of the high-level concerns group; (4) among groups with different psychological distances towards waste separation, modeling can significantly promote the waste separation behavior of the group with a closer expected distance. The research results provide effective theoretical support and practical significance for promoting individual waste separation behavior and realizing waste recycling and reduction.

Citizen Environmental Behavior From the Perspective of Psychological Distance Based on a Visual Analysis of Bibliometrics and Scientific Knowledge Mapping

Global warming and other climate issues seriously threaten global sustainable development. As citizen environmental behavior can have a positive impact on the environment, it is of great theoretical significance and practical reference value to study the impact of psychological distance theory on citizen environmental behavior. This study obtained 2,633 related studies from 1980 to 2020 from the Web of Science as research objects, and used CiteSpace, VOSviewer, Netdraw, and other software programs to perform a bibliometric analysis, which can show the complex relationship implied in the citation, intuitively grasp the development context and hot frontier in this field, and help scholars better study citizen environmental behavior. The results and conclusions are as follows. (1) The related research covered three periods: infancy, growth, and outbreak. (2) Chronologically, the relevant research evolved from building models to analyze the impact of environmental enrichment on human environmental behavior, to studying the motivation behind citizen environmental behavior, and finally to paying attention to sustainable development. (3) A cluster analysis of high-frequency keywords identified three research hotspots: “drivers of psychological distance of environmental change perception on citizen environmental behavior,” “impact of social distance on adolescents’ behavior,” and “construal level theory and citizen green behavior.” Based on these findings, possible future research directions were identified, including changing from a single theory to a combination of multiple theories to comprehensively study citizen environmental protection behavior; analyzing the motivation of citizen environmental behavior and summarizing the general motivation of environmental behavior according to its internal relationship; and determining how to narrow the global psychological distance, strengthen the awareness of the community of human destiny, and explore the establishment of an efficient global climate cooperation mechanism.

Working Under the Gun: A Theoretical Analysis of Stressors Associated With the Re-negotiation of Norms and Control of Work Tasks During COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has led many of the world's nations to impose numerous preventive and mitigative measures to increase social distance, including various forms of home isolation and quarantine. A central premise for the current paper is that the COVID-19 situation is likely to constitute a massive re-negotiation of social and organizational norms, which may lead to psychological distress at the individual, family and interpersonal level. Virtually overnight, people have to re-define what is expected and deemed appropriate by a given group member in a certain social setting. This goes for all kinds of general social interaction, such as societal, even multinational medical demands on social distancing. Simultaneously it also goes for a sudden, gargantuan re-division of labor in a complex global system. We provide a theoretical analysis of the potential consequences of re-negotiation of norms from the perspective of four sets of psychological theory: Theory of professions; organizational strategic crisis responses; the job-demands-resources model; and theories addressing the interplay between norm violations and psychological distance. From these theories we derive three suggestions that the discussion centers around: (1) The COVID-19 situation leads to a massive re-negotiation of norms related to work, (2) The COVID-19 situation diffuses the demarcation between the various professional arenas and the private sphere, and this diffusion enhances the stress associated with norm conflict, and (3) Norm conflicts are enhanced by digitalization. Our discussion centers on potential stressors associated with the renegotiation of norms, and also includes a few suggestions for practice. For each theoretical suggestion, we give examples of how the suggestion may manifest itself with respect to (a) the work task, (b) the individual's relationship to their leader and/or organization, and (c) interpersonal relationships. We finally point to some theoretical and applied implications.

Public psychological distance and spatial distribution characteristics during the COVID-19 pandemic: a Chinese context

The COVID-19 pandemic is a public health emergency, which continues to have a significant impact on the functioning of society and the public’s daily life. From the perspective of psychological distance (PD), this study used descriptive, differential, and spatial autocorrelation analysis methods to explore the cognitive distance, emotional distance, expected distance and behavioral distance of the Chinese public in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. An analysis of 4042 valid sample data found that: (1) The event emotional distance and subject emotional distance were both furthest from the event and subject psychological distance dimensions, and anger about the event was the strongest. (2) The government was the most appealing subject in the process of pandemic prevention and control, but at the same time, the public’s sense of closeness to the government was also lower than that of the other three subjects, e.g., medical institutions. (3) Different pandemic regions showed significant differences in PD. Mean scores of PD in each risk region were as follows: High-risk regions > medium-risk regions > low-risk regions. (4) From a global perspective, no spatial autocorrelation was found in PD. However, from a local perspective, high-value regions (provinces with distant PD) are mainly concentrated in the southern regions (Guizhou, Guangxi, Hainan, Jiangxi), and low-value regions (provinces with close PD) are mainly concentrated in North China (Shanxi, Hebei, Beijing). Combined with the relevant conclusions, this paper put forward policy recommendations.

The Role of Psychological Distance in Influencing Pro-environmental Behavior Spread: Perceived Justice Enforceability as a Moderator

The social system can spread tightly coupled complex practices under the context that members of the social system do not have the shared experience that enables them to coordinate within longstanding tight formal organizations. To promote the understanding of such a process, and given the possibility for other members in the social system to cheat and adopt pro-environment behavior, we draw on the organizational justice literature and the perspective of justice enforceability, and construal level theory, to develop a conceptual model in which the impact of social members' perceived psychological distance on their response to other social members adoption of pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs) is contingent on their perception of justice enforceability and cognitive appraisals (positive, not significant) towards other social members' adoption of PEBs. We find that when social members perceive that the adoption of pro-environment behaviors is justice-enforceable, their cognitive appraisals of other social members' adoption of PEBs is high, and then the more proximal the psychological distance they perceive, the stronger they will react to other social members' adoption of PEBs. Further, they will adopt and enact such behaviors, otherwise, they would be unwilling to adopt and enact such behaviors. So, uneven perceived psychological distance of social members can harm their adoption and the spread of pro-environment behavior. We tested our model in a survey study. Results show that the proposed model is supported, and our understanding is enhanced about how social members' willingness to adopt and spread pro-environment behavior is contingent on their perceptions of justice enforceability. This paper is comprised of five parts, of which include an introduction, a part on the theory and hypothesis, data and methods, results and discussion, and conclusion.

Promoting Employee Green Behavior Through the Person-Organization Fit: The Moderating Effect of Psychological Distance

The importance of employee green behavior (EGB) to an enterprise’s green development goal is increasingly emphasized in many industries. However, to date promoting EGB through interaction, namely between individuals and organizations, has not been a central concern. Therefore, from the perspective of the person-organization fit, this study considers the psychological distance between employees and the organization as a moderating variable, exploring the mechanisms of values fit, needs-supplies fit, and demands-abilities fit on green behaviors as within and outside the scope of employee responsibility. After collecting the results of questionnaires from 412 employees, our hypotheses were tested using the Structural Equation Model (SEM). The results show that (1) person-organization fit can effectively promote EGB in the workplace. However, different types of person-organization fit have different influencing paths and effect-strengths on employees’ task-related green behavior and proactive green behavior. (2) Values fit has the greatest incentive effect on EGB, followed by demands-abilities fit, while needs-supplies fit promotes only eco-helping behavior. (3) Psychological distance has a significant moderating effect on the relationship between the person-organization fit and EGB. The effect of person-organization fit on EGB is enhanced when employees are close with less emotional distance, while the effect is weakened in the case of close expectation distance. Finally, this study provides suggestions for enterprise managers providing ways to motivate EGB through the selection and allocation of human resources.

Chinese Public Response to Occupational Safety and Health Problems-A Study Based on Psychological Distance

Background: The effective governance of occupational safety and health problems is inseparable from public participation and response. Methods: Based on the perspective of psychological distance, this paper adopted a quadratic response surface regression analysis method to investigate cognitive, emotional, expected and behavioral distances to occupational safety and health topics and their corresponding responses. Results: As demonstrated by the data statistics and response surface regression analysis results for 2386 valid samples, the relatively close psychological distance dimensions of the public with regard to occupational safety and health problems indicated the high endogenous tendency of the public to pay attention to occupational safety and health problems. The consistency between public cognitive and emotional distance with regard to occupational safety and health presented a “progressive decrease” in response towards behavioral distance, whereas the consistency between cognitive and expected distance reflected “convex” changes towards behavioral distance. Finally, the consistency between emotional and expected distance generally presented a “progressive increase” response towards behavioral distance. Conclusions: This research provides information regarding the public awareness of and response to occupational safety and health issues and how to promote occupational safety and health issues in order to improve them.

Closeness or Distance? An Investigation of Employee-Organization Relationships: From a Psychological Distance Perspective

It is of great significance to grasp and control the relationship between organizations and employees for the healthy development of an organization. This paper measured the closeness and distance of the employee-organization relationship. The results were based on an investigation of 554 employees. (1) The mean value of the employee-organization psychological distance (EOPD) was 3.51, indicating that the relationship between the employee and organization was not optimistic. (2) 48.79% of the 554 interviewees maintained "existence" relationships with their organizations, 28.13% of people maintained "exclude" relationships with their organizations, 20.44% had a "loyalty" relationship, while only 2.64% had an "integrated" relationship with their organization. (3) EOPD showed significant differences in terms of age, marital status, education, career, position and area of residence. (4) Detailed analysis was undertaken to explore the distribution characteristics of four relationships, and specific rules were found. Our research provided a new perspective and related references for the further study of organizational management.