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Psychic distance


Psychic distance is a term which has at least three distinct means across the fields of aesthetics, international business/international marketing, and computer science.

Psychic distance is made up of the Greek word "psychikos – ψυχικός", an adjective referring to an individual's mind and soul, and "distance" which implies differences between two subjects or objects. Some therefore argue that the concept exists in the mind's eye of the individual and it is their subjective perception that uniquely determines "psychic distance". As a result it is often viewed as a humanistic reflection of individual acuity and not a collective, organisational or societal perspective. However, in the international business context, psychic distance is frequently measured in terms of national averages or in terms of the national-level differences that influence those perceptions.

In his book, King refers to his preference to use the term "aesthetic distance" rather than psychic distance, as he feels the latter term has misleading connotations in current usage.

In 1912 Cambridge's Edward Bullough wrote of it in a long paper entitled, Psychical Distance as a factor in Art and an Aesthetic Principle which appeared in the British Journal of Psychology. In this he set down in a reasonably complete manner the concept as it applied to the arts.

Evidently, he successfully influenced thinkers 50 years later. Donald Sherburne, for example, says, "Edward Bullough's psychical distance has become "a classic doctrine of aesthetic thinking." And James L. Jarrett writes of Bullough's ideas, "Perhaps no more influential idea has been introduced into modern aesthetics than that of psychical distance."

The psychical distance construct has been used as an intercultural theme by the arts in the study of creative detachment between East and West. Despite such cameo appearances in other fields, the concept has been essentially "operationalised" by business with the marketing function acting as the chief curator.

In international business (IB) and marketing settings, psychic distance is based on perceived differences between a home country and a "foreign" country regardless of physical time and space factors which differs across diverse cultures.

The business origins of the "psychic distance" idiom can be traced back to research conducted by Beckerman (1956) and Linnemann (1966). As a fully formed concept Vahlne and Wiedersheim-Paul (1973) as cited by Nordstrom and Vahlne (1992) described psychic distance as "factors preventing or disturbing the flow of information between potential or actual suppliers and customers." These factors are associated with country-based diversities and dissimilarities and can be grouped into four clear areas:


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