The current research aims to explore how people construe objects when being observed (vs. in a private context). Using different manipulations of observation and measures of construal, we demonstrate that people are more likely to apply higher-level construals when observed than in a private context (Studies 1-3); this effect holds when controlling for arousal level (Study 2) and is obtained under conditions of observation but not the mere presence of others (Study 3). Studies 4-6 explore the underlying mechanism of this effect: adopting the perspectives of others in the presence of observers. Study 4 demonstrates that when observed, people align their own preferences to their inference of the preferences of others, but this effect is not present in a private context. In Study 5, a mediation analysis suggests that individuals prefer the high-level option when observed because they adopt the perspectives of others. In addition, the link between context and construal level is broken when participants are explicitly asked to focus on their own perspective when observed or to adopt the perspectives of others in a private context (Study 6). Finally, Study 7 examines implications for evaluation of gifts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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人们在被观察时如何理解物体？

当前的研究旨在探索人们在被观察时如何理解物体（相对于私人环境）。通过观察观察和解释性行为的不同操作，我们证明人们观察时比在私人场合下更有可能应用更高级别的解释性研究（研究1-3）。当控制唤醒水平时，这种效果仍然存在（研究2），并且是在观察条件下获得的，而不是仅仅存在其他人（研究3）。研究4-6探索了这种影响的潜在机制：在观察者在场的情况下采纳他人的观点。研究4表明，当观察时，人们将自己的偏好与他们对他人偏好的推论保持一致，但是这种效果在私人环境中并不存在。在研究5中，调解分析表明，个人在观察时更喜欢高级选项，因为他们采纳了他人的观点。此外，当明确要求参与者观察时专注于他们自己的观点或在私人情境中采纳他人的观点时，情境与建构水平之间的联系就被打破了（研究6）。最后，研究7考察了评估礼物的意义。（PsycInfo数据库记录（c）2020 APA，保留所有权利）。