The Unconscious Cost of Good Fortune: Implicit and Explicit Self-Esteem, Positive Life Events, and Health.

J. D. Brown and K. L. McGill (1989) found that positive life events were associated with better health only for people high in self-esteem. Among people low in self-esteem, positive life events were associated with poorer health. The authors of this study replicated this finding in a self-report survey of 61 male and 110 female college students. In addition, they showed that implicit self-esteem moderated the relation between positive life events and self-reported health in the same fashion as explicit self-esteem did. Whereas people high in implicit self-esteem reported being healthier when they experienced more positive life events, people low in implicit self-esteem reported being healthier when they experienced fewer positive life events. Moreover, the effects of implicit self-esteem were statistically independent of the effects of explicit self-esteem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

I like it because I said that I like it: Evaluative conditioning effects can be based on stimulus-response learning.

Evaluative conditioning (EC) effects are often assumed to be based on a learned mental link between the CS (conditioned stimulus) and the US (unconditioned stimulus). We demonstrate that this link is not the only one that can underlie EC effects, but that if evaluative responses are actually given during the learning phase also a direct link between the CS and an evaluative response—a CS-ER link—can be learned and lead to EC effects. In Experiment 1, CSs were paired with USs and participants were asked to evaluate the pairs during the conditioning phase. Resulting EC effects were unaffected by a later revaluation of the USs, suggesting that these EC effects can be attributed to CS-ER learning rather than to CS-US learning. Experiment 2 replicated Experiment 1 with the difference that no evaluative responses were given during the learning phase. EC effects in this study were influenced by US revaluation, suggesting that these EC effects are mainly based on CS-US learning. In Experiment 3, it was shown that EC effects can be found even if the USs are entirely removed from the procedure and the CSs are only paired with enforced evaluative responses. Together the experiments show that the valence of a stimulus can change because of a contingency with an evaluative response. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Guilty by mere association: Evaluative conditioning and the spreading attitude effect.

Five experiments investigated the phenomenon that attitude formation is not confined to the co-occurrence of an attitudinal object with an evaluated experience. The pairing of a target with a (dis)liked person not only affects the evaluation of the previously neutral person but spreads to other individuals who are (pre)associated with the target (spreading attitude effect). Exps 1 and 2 provided evidence for the spreading attitude effect in appetitive as well as aversive evaluative conditioning. Exp 3 showed that the spreading attitude effect is a robust phenomenon resistant to extinction. Exp 4 demonstrated that attitude spread can be transferred to 2nd-order conditioning. Finally, Exp 5 supports the notion that the spreading attitude effect is not dependent on cognitive resources. Implications for social as well as applied psychology are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

From Seeing to Being: Subliminal Social Comparisons Affect Implicit and Explicit Self-Evaluations.

The authors hypothesize that social comparisons can have automatic influences on self-perceptions. This was tested by determining whether subliminal exposure to comparison information influences implicit and explicit self-evaluation. Study 1 showed that subliminal exposure to social comparison information increased the accessibility of the self. Study 2 revealed that subliminal exposure to social comparison information resulted in a contrast effect on explicit self-evaluation. Study 3 showed that subliminal exposure to social comparison information affects self-evaluations more easily than it affects mood or evaluations of other people. Studies 4 and 5 replicated these self-evaluation effects and extended them to implicit measures. Study 6 showed that automatic comparisons are responsive to a person's perceptual needs, such that they only occur when people are uncertain about themselves. Implications for theories of social cognition, judgment, and comparison are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluative conditioning in humans: A meta-analysis.

This article presents a meta-analysis of research on evaluative conditioning (EC), defined as a change in the liking of a stimulus (conditioned stimulus; CS) that results from pairing that stimulus with other positive or negative stimuli (unconditioned stimulus; US). Across a total of 214 studies included in the main sample, the mean EC effect was d = .52, with a 95% confidence interval of .466–.582. As estimated from a random-effects model, about 70% of the variance in effect sizes were attributable to true systematic variation rather than sampling error. Moderator analyses were conducted to partially explain this variation, both as a function of concrete aspects of the procedural implementation and as a function of the abstract aspects of the relation between CS and US. Among a range of other findings, EC effects were stronger for high than for low contingency awareness, for supraliminal than for subliminal US presentation, for postacquisition than for postextinction effects, and for self-report than for implicit measures. These findings are discussed with regard to the procedural boundary conditions of EC and theoretical accounts about the mental processes underlying EC. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluative conditioning and the awareness issue: Assessing contingency awareness with the Four-Picture Recognition Test.

An experiment is described that tested the moderating influence of contingency awareness on evaluative conditioning. After participants were conditioned within the picture-picture paradigm, contingency awareness was assessed by means of a recognition test (i.e., the 4-picture recognition test). Results indicate an inverse relationship between the conditioned affective reaction and contingency awareness: Only participants classified as unaware in the recognition test showed significant effects of evaluative learning. A closer inspection indicates that aware individuals stored not only the valence but also the nominal stimulus in mind. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-Esteem and Favoritism Toward Novel In-Groups: The Self as an Evaluative Base.

The self-as-evaluative base (SEB) hypothesis proposes that self-evaluation extends automatically via an amotivated consistency process to affect evaluation of novel in-groups. Four minimal group studies support SEB. Personal trait self-esteem (PSE) predicted increased favoritism toward a novel in-group that, objectively, was equivalent to the out-group (Study 1). This association was independent of information-processing effects (Study 1), collective self-esteem, right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), and narcissism (Studies 2 and 3). A self-affirmation manipulation attenuated the association between in-group favoritism and an individual difference associated with motivated social identity concerns (RWA) but did not alter the PSE effect (Study 3). Finally, the association between PSE and in-group favoritism remained positive even when the in-group was objectively less favorable than the out-group (Study 4). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implicit self-esteem compensation: Automatic threat defense.

Four experiments demonstrated implicit self-esteem compensation (ISEC) in response to threats involving gender identity (Experiment 1), implicit racism (Experiment 2), and social rejection (Experiments 3-4). Under conditions in which people might be expected to suffer a blow to self-worth, they instead showed high scores on 2 implicit self-esteem measures. There was no comparable effect on explicit self-esteem. However, ISEC was eliminated following self-affirmation (Experiment 3). Furthermore, threat manipulations increased automatic intergroup bias, but ISEC mediated these relationships (Experiments 2-3). Thus, a process that serves as damage control for the self may have negative social consequences. Finally, pretest anxiety mediated the relationship between threat and ISEC (Experiment 3), whereas ISEC negatively predicted anxiety among high-threat participants (Experiment 4), suggesting that ISEC may function to regulate anxiety. The implications of these findings for automatic emotion regulation, intergroup bias, and implicit self-esteem measures are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aware and (Dis)Liking: Item-Based Analyses Reveal That Valence Acquisition via Evaluative Conditioning Emerges Only When There Is Contingency Awareness.

Evaluative conditioning (EC) refers to changes in the liking of an affectively neutral stimulus (the conditioned stimulus, or CS) following the pairing of that stimulus with another stimulus of affective value (the unconditioned stimulus, or US). In 3 experiments, the authors assessed contingency awareness, that is, awareness of the CS-US associations, by relying on participants' responses to individual items rather than using a global method of assessment. They found that EC emerged on contingency aware CSs only. Of note, whether the CSs were evaluated explicitly (Experiments 1 and 2) or implicitly (Experiment 3) did not make a difference. This pattern supports the idea that awareness of the CS-US associations may be required for valence acquisition via EC. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluative learning with single versus multiple unconditioned stimuli: The role of contingency awareness.

Evaluative conditioning (EC) is obtained when an initially neutral conditioned stimulus (CS) becomes evaluated positively (negatively) after being paired with an evaluatively positive (negative) unconditioned stimulus (US). Most EC studies have paired a given CS with a single US, but EC has also been obtained when a CS was paired with multiple USs of the same valence. This study compares how both variants of CS–US pairing affect awareness for CS–US pairings and ultimately EC effects. EC was assessed directly and indirectly, using evaluative ratings and the Extrinsic Affective Simon Task. Memory for US identity and US valence was assessed to investigate effects of awareness. The multiple-US condition showed attenuated EC effects compared with the single-US condition. The direct measure showed EC effects when awareness of US valence or US identity was present. The indirect measure showed EC effects only when awareness of US identity was present. Results are discussed with regard to the role of contingency awareness in EC. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Indicators of perception: I. Subliminal perception, subception, unconscious perception: An analysis in terms of psychophysical indicator methodology.

"A review of the literature pertaining to unconscious processes in perception was undertaken since preceding reviews had not taken into account current developments in psychophysical indicator methodology, which, it was felt, might clarify issues in this area, especially since they concern the two types of indicators most widely used. It is concluded that most of the substantive contributions of the experiments reviewed cannot be demonstrated to be related to perceptual variables, and this is probably where their importance lies." 198 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Humor in advertisements enhances product liking by mere association.

Humor in advertising is known to enhance product liking, but this attitude change is often considered nonpredictive of product choice. Previous research relied exclusively on explicit self-report measures to assess attitudes and purchase intentions. The present research shows that unobtrusive association of a product with humor can affect persuasion through implicit attitude change. Participants viewed humorous and nonhumorous cartoons in a mock-up magazine. One of two products was consistently presented in the vicinity of the humorous cartoons, whereas the other product was consistently presented in the vicinity of the nonhumorous cartoons. The results of an evaluative priming task showed enhanced evaluations of products paired with humor (Experiment 1, 2, and 3). Furthermore, these enhanced evaluations mediated the relation between association with humor and product choice (Experiment 2 and 3). Paradoxically, products paired with humor were also less recognized than the control products (Experiments 2 and 3). In summary, the present research demonstrates that mere association with humor enhances product evaluations and product choice in a way that is dissociated from the accessibility of the product in memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implicit self-esteem: Nature, measurement, and a new way forward.

Gaining insight into the nature and consequences of people's global self-evaluations (i.e., their self-esteem) has been fraught with difficulty. Nearly 2 decades ago, researchers suggested that such difficulties might be addressed by the development of a new class of measures designed to uncover implicit self-esteem. In this article, we evaluate the construct validity of the 2 most common measures of implicit self-esteem, the Implicit Association Test (IAT) and Name–Letter Test (NLT). Our review indicates that the research literature has not provided strong or consistent support for the validity of either measure. We conclude that both tests are impoverished measures of self-esteem that are better understood as measures of either generalized implicit affect (IAT) or implicit egotism (NLT). However, we suggest that there surely are aspects of self-esteem that people are unwilling or unable to report and suggest a general approach that may allow researchers to tap these unspoken aspects of self-esteem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Associative and propositional processes in evaluation: An integrative review of implicit and explicit attitude change.

A central theme in recent research on attitudes is the distinction between deliberate, "explicit" attitudes and automatic, "implicit" attitudes. The present article provides an integrative review of the available evidence on implicit and explicit attitude change that is guided by a distinction between associative and propositional processes. Whereas associative processes are characterized by mere activation independent of subjective truth or falsity, propositional reasoning is concerned with the validation of evaluations and beliefs. The proposed associative-propositional evaluation (APE) model makes specific assumptions about the mutual interplay of the 2 processes, implying several mechanisms that lead to symmetric or asymmetric changes in implicit and explicit attitudes. The model integrates a broad range of empirical evidence and implies several new predictions for implicit and explicit attitude change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implicit and Self-Attributed Motives to Achieve: Two Separate but Interacting Needs.

This research examined how implicit and self-attributed needs to achieve (labeled as n Ach and san Ach, respectively) combine with self-referenced and norm-referenced feedback to predict effort-related (task performance) and choice-related (task continuation) indexes of students' engagement in a mental concentration task. In Experiment 1 the authors found that in a task-focused setting, task performance was predicted by the joint effect of self-referenced feedback and n Ach, whereas task continuation was predicted by the joint effect of norm-referenced feedback and san Ach. In Experiment 2 the authors found that in an ego-focused setting, n Ach and san Ach interacted in the prediction of task performance but not of task continuation. In Experiment 3 the authors found that the effects of n Ach and san Ach on students' performance were mediated by the anticipated affective value of achievement outcomes. These findings are discussed in relation to a 2-system approach to achievement motivation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Js: Implicit Egotism and Interpersonal Attraction.

From the perspective of implicit egotism people should gravitate toward others who resemble them because similar others activate people's positive, automatic associations about themselves. Four archival studies and 3 experiments supported this hypothesis. Studies 1-4 showed that people are disproportionately likely to marry others whose first or last names resemble their own. Studies 5-7 provided experimental support for implicit egotism. Participants were more attracted than usual to people (a) whose arbitrary experimental code numbers resembled their own birthday numbers, (b) whose surnames shared letters with their own surnames, and (c) whose jersey number had been paired, subliminally, with their own names. Discussion focuses on implications for implicit egotism, similarity, and interpersonal attraction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Why Susie sells seashells by the seashore: Implicit egotism and major life decisions.

Because most people possess positive associations about themselves, most people prefer things that are connected to the self (e.g., the letters in one's name). The authors refer to such preferences as implicit egotism. Ten studies assessed the role of implicit egotism in 2 major life decisions: where people choose to live and what people choose to do for a living. Studies 1-5 showed that people are disproportionately likely to live in places whose names resemble their own first or last names (e.g., people named Louis are disproportionately likely to live in St. Louis). Study 6 extended this finding to birthday number preferences. People were disproportionately likely to live in cities whose names began with their birthday numbers (e.g., Two Harbors, MN). Studies 7-10 suggested that people disproportionately choose careers whose labels resemble their names (e.g., people named Dennis or Denise are overrepresented among dentists). Implicit egotism appears to influence major life decisions. This idea stands in sharp contrast to many models of rational choice and attests to the importance of understanding implicit beliefs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conditioning of ictal and interictal behaviors in rats by amygdala kindling: Context as the conditional stimulus.

The authors showed that conditional effects of the stimulation environment modulate both the ictal and interictal behaviors of rats subjected to amygdala kindling. Rats received 53 stimulations to the left basolateral amygdala in 1 conditional stimulus (CS) context (CS+) and 53 sham stimulations (the stimulation lead was attached but no current was delivered) in another context (CS-), quasirandomly over 54 days. Three kinds of conditional effects were observed, First, after several stimulations, less ambulatory activity, more freezing, and less rearing reliably occurred in the CS + context than in the CS context. Second, after 45 stimulations, all of the rats chose the CS - context over the CS + context in a conditioned place preference test. Third, when the rats were finally stimulated in the CS- context, their motor seizures were less severe: Latencies were longer, motor seizures were shorter, convulsive patterns were of a lower class, and there were fewer falls. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Complementary Justice: Effects of "Poor but Happy" and "Poor but Honest" Stereotype Exemplars on System Justification and Implicit Activation of the Justice Motive.

It was hypothesized that exposure to complementary representations of the poor as happier and more honest than the rich would lead to increased support for the status quo. In Study 1, exposure to "poor but happy" and "rich but miserable" stereotype exemplars led people to score higher on a general measure of system justification, compared with people who were exposed to noncomplementary exemplars. Study 2 replicated this effect with "poor but honest" and "rich but dishonest" complementary stereotypes. In Studies 3 and 4, exposure to noncomplementary stereotype exemplars implicitly activated justice concerns, as indicated by faster reaction times to justice-related than neutral words in a lexical decision task. Evidence also suggested that the Protestant work ethic may moderate the effects of stereotype exposure on explicit system justification (but not implicit activation). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hippocampus and Pavlovian Fear Conditioning in Rats: Muscimol Infusions Into the Ventral, but Not Dorsal, Hippocampus Impair the Acquisition of Conditional Freezing to an Auditory Conditional Stimulus.

The authors compared the effects of pharmacological inactivation of the dorsal hippocampus (DH) or ventral hippocampus (VH) on Pavlovian fear conditioning in rats. Freezing behavior served as the measure of fear. Pretraining infusions of muscimol, a GABAA receptor agonist, into the VH disrupted auditory, but not contextual, fear conditioning; DH infusions did not affect fear conditioning. Pretesting inactivation of the VH or DH did not affect the expression of conditional freezing. Pretraining electrolytic lesions of the VH reproduced the effects of muscimol infusions, whereas posttraining VH lesions disrupted both auditory and contextual freezing. Hence, neurons in the VH are importantly involved in the acquisition of auditory fear conditioning and the expression of auditory and contextual fear under some conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)