%0 Journal Article
%T A Brief, Distance
%A Alison Ledgerwood
%A Amber M. S¨¢nchez
%A Cheryl J. Wakslak
%A Heather R. Rees
%J Social Psychological and Personality Science
%@ 1948-5514
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/1948550618779387
%X Although research findings are increasingly accessible to the public, people may choose to rely on anecdotal over evidence-based information when making important decisions. Thus, a key challenge facing the scientific community is to develop effective strategies for increasing people¡¯s reliance on research evidence in their decision-making. Focusing on the critical context of cancer-screening decisions, we find that a brief, distance-based intervention can influence people¡¯s intentions to follow evidence-based rather than anecdotal information. Specifically, in a preregistered and well-powered experiment (N = 224), participants who set a screening schedule for the next 10 years before considering a decision for an upcoming appointment were more inclined to follow the implications of evidence-based screening guidelines (vs. an anecdote), compared to participants who only considered the upcoming appointment. The success of this distance-based intervention represents an important first step in translating decades of laboratory research on distance into practical interventions for more complex and consequential decisions
%K decision-making
%K social cognition
%K social influence
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1948550618779387