A case study for optimizing research paradigms: The within-subjects effect of temporal distance on language abstraction

Construal level theory (CLT) proposes that psychological distance—the removal of events from direct experience—prompts people to construe events in higher-level terms (i.e., highlighting the abstract vs. concrete features of events). There is growing interest in the replicability of this core tenet of CLT (e.g., Calderon et al., 2020). The present research develops a novel CLT paradigm that leverages two critical design features—a within-subjects manipulation and a refinement of construal level assessment—to optimize statistical power for detecting construal level effects. Consistent with predictions, this new paradigm revealed a significant effect of temporal distance on construal level. This replicates previous CLT research, and demonstrates that, in addition to existing best practices for reproducible science (e.g., large-N), design changes can dramatically increase power. Beyond implications for CLT, the present research serves as a case study for how design optimization may contribute to the science of replicability.