One IB research stream on country distance supports that distance is influenced by the observers' perceptions, which reflect their unique experiences, as working abroad and cultural background. This study on distance perception is different but complements previous research, as we focus on certain systemic biases in perception that are inherent in fundamental human thinking processes when judging similarity. We build on cognitive psychology research, which shows these biases stem from mental shortcuts and heuristics, which people are prone to take in certain circumstances. We test our theory by conducting three experiments. First, we examine a different source of country distance asymmetry due to the fact that one of the countries in a pair is more salient. Second, we propose that context affects country similarity in that distance depends not only on the characteristics of the two countries being compared, but also other countries under consideration. Third, we challenge the notion that perceptions of country similarity and dissimilarity are exact opposites. We argue that ‘distance’ between two countries is a function of the number and salience of characteristics that two countries have in common, or similarity, and those features that are in one country but not in the other, or dissimilarity.

IB关于国家距离的研究流支持这种距离受观察者的看法影响，这些看法反映了他们在国外工作和文化背景的独特经历。这项关于距离感知的研究有所不同，但对先前的研究进行了补充，因为我们关注于判断相似性时人类基本思维过程固有的感知中的某些系统性偏差。我们以认知心理学研究为基础，该研究表明这些偏见源于人们在某些情况下倾向于采取的心理捷径和启发式方法。我们通过进行三个实验来检验我们的理论。首先，由于一对国家中的一个国家更加突出，我们研究了国家距离不对称性的另一个来源。第二，我们建议，背景会影响该国的相似性，因为该距离不仅取决于所比较的两个国家的特征，还取决于所考虑的其他国家。第三，我们质疑关于国家相似和不相似的看法是完全相反的观点。我们认为，两个国家之间的“距离”是两个国家具有共同点或相似性的特征的数量和显着性以及一个国家中而不是另一个国家或相异性的特征的函数。