Changes in background impair fluency-triggered positive affect: a cross-cultural test using a mere-exposure paradigm

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• The mere-exposure effect describes how familiarity with a stimulus increases liking.
• Previous research has primarily focused on identical stimulus repetition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if partial stimulus identity (central object) with varied backgrounds elicits the mere-exposure effect.
• To examine cross-cultural differences (Japanese and American participants) in this phenomenon.

Main Methods:

• Participants viewed animal images with scenery.
• Preferences were assessed for animals with original, no, or novel scenery.
• Recognition accuracy for presented animals was tested.

Main Results:

• Both Japanese and American participants exhibited the mere-exposure effect for animals with original scenery and animals without scenery.
• The mere-exposure effect was not observed when animals were presented with novel scenery.
• Effect was independent of stimulus recognition accuracy.

Conclusions:

• Partial stimulus identity (central object) is insufficient to induce the mere-exposure effect if the background changes.
• Background alterations can impede the development of positive affect from repeated exposure.
• Cultural background did not significantly alter these findings.