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The Effect of Good and Bad Luck on Attention to Background versus Object: An Exploratory Study

행운과 불운이 배경 대 대상에 대한 주의에 미치는 효과: 탐색적 연구

  • Lee, Byung-Kwan (Department of Industrial Psychology, Kwangwoon University) ;
  • Lee, Guk-Hee (Department of Industrial Psychology, Kwangwoon University)
  • Received : 2015.07.01
  • Accepted : 2015.08.07
  • Published : 2015.09.30

Abstract

It is frequently found in daily life that people who experience good luck as lottery winners try to improve their background (e.g., home, car) but it has not been empirically validated why they do that. Present research attempts to explore the prediction that people who experience good luck expand the scope of attention to background and those who undergo bad luck shrink the scope of attention to adjacent objects. Findings from Experiment 1a indicate that participants who experienced good luck (won the rock-paper-scissors game) paid more attention to background and performed worse in the "find the hidden picture" (below FHP) task while those who underwent bad luck (lost the rock-paper-scissors game) paid more attention to objects, leading to better performance in the FHP task. It is also found in Experiment 1a that, if people washed their hands after experiencing good or bad luck, the opposite result occurred. Experiment 1b confirmed that the rock-paper-scissor game manipulated good and bad luck successfully and did not influence self-control. Experiment 2 shows that people who strongly believe in good luck performed poorly in FHP task while those who do not believe in good luck performed well in FHP task. Overall, three experiments support the proposed research hypotheses. Implications of the study findings for cognitive psychology and related fields including consumer and sports psychology are discussed.

복권에 당첨된 것과 같이 뜻밖의 행운을 경험한 사람들이 그들의 배경 (e.g., 집, 자동차)을 개선시키려고 노력하는 것은 일상에서 자주 목격할 수 있는 일이지만, 이렇게 행동하는 이유에 대해서는 경험적으로 검증된 바 없다. 본 연구는 행운을 경험한 사람들이 배경으로 주의의 범위를 확장시키고, 불운은 주변의 대상들로 주의의 범위를 축소할 것이라는 예측을 경험적으로 검증하면서 위와 같은 행동의 이유를 탐색하고자 이루어졌다. 이를 위한 실험 1a는 행운 경험(가위바위보 승)이 배경에 주의를 기울이도록 유도하여 숨은그림찾기 수행을 저하시키고, 불운 경험(가위바위보 패)이 배경 안의 대상에 주의를 기울이도록 유도하여 숨은그림찾기 수행을 향상시키는 현상을 관찰하였다. 또 손을 씻으면 이러한 현상이 반대로 나타남을 확인하였다. 실험 1b는 실험 1a의 결과가 행운-불운 경험과 손 씻기의 상호작용효과에 따른 것이며 가위바위보의 승패가 자기통제감을 조작한 결과가 아님을 확인하였다. 실험 2는 행운에 대한 신념이 강한 사람일수록 배경에 주의를 기울여 숨은그림찾기 수행이 저하되고 이것이 약할수록 숨은그림찾기 수행이 향상됨을 관찰할 수 있었다. 이 세 가지 실험은 행운이 환경 전반으로 주의를 확장시키고, 불운이 주변대상들로 주의를 축소시킨다는 탐색적 예측을 지지한다. 본 연구는 주의와 관련된 인지심리학뿐 아니라 소비자 행동 및 광고심리학 등의 인접분야에도 폭 넓은 시사점을 가진다.

Keywords

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