Abstract
Egocentric anchoring, that is, overimputing one’s own perspective onto others constitutes a major obstacle for successful perspective taking. Accordingly, differentiating between the self and others is beneficial for perspective taking because it highlights the inadequacy of egocentric anchoring. The current research tested whether activating avoidance motivational orientation enhances perspective-taking performance (compared to approach motivational orientation), because self-other differentiation is facilitated under avoidance orientation. Supporting these predictions, two experiments showed that inducing avoidance motivational orientation (compared to approach orientation) either via goal framing or via the respective arm position enhances perspective-taking performance. Using experimental causal chain design, Study 3a supported the hypothesis that avoidance motivational orientation fosters self-other differentiation, while Study 3b showed that fostering self-other differentiation experimentally enhanced perspective-taking performance. The findings are discussed with regard to the role of psychological distance in perspective taking.
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