Understanding implicit and explicit attitude change: a systems of reasoning analysis

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Implicit and explicit attitudes are central to social cognition, yet their formation and change mechanisms remain debated.
• Understanding these processes is crucial for predicting behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the distinct processes underlying implicit and explicit attitude formation and change.
• To examine how these attitudes predict different types of behavior.

Main Methods:

• Five experiments were conducted to test a systems of reasoning approach.
• Methodologies differentiated between explicit processing goals and associative learning.

Main Results:

• Explicit attitudes were influenced by explicit goals and predicted deliberate intentions.
• Implicit attitudes developed through slower associative processes, unaffected by explicit goals, and predicted spontaneous behaviors.
• Implicit attitude formation relied on associative information inaccessible to higher-order cognition.

Conclusions:

• Attitudes operate through distinct systems: a fast-acting explicit system and a slower, associative implicit system.
• These systems differentially influence deliberate versus spontaneous behaviors.
• A systems of reasoning framework effectively explains implicit and explicit attitude dynamics.