Systems of meaning and transference: Implicit significant-other activation evokes shared reality

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology
• Interpersonal Relations

Background:

• Representations of significant others (SOs) are integral to interpersonal relations and meaning-making.
• Transference, a social-cognitive process, involves using SO representations in new relationships.
• Prior research suggests transference serves meaning-making functions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if implicit activation of SO representations in transference indirectly activates shared worldviews.
• To examine if this activation leads to the pursuit, validation, and protection of these shared worldviews.
• To explore the epistemic functions of transference in evoking shared meaning systems.

Main Methods:

• Five studies assessed shared worldviews (values, political ideology, religious beliefs).
• Participants encountered new individuals, one subtly resembling their SO.
• Transference was measured, and participants completed lexical decision tasks and topic selection to assess worldview activation and pursuit.

Main Results:

• Encountering a person resembling an SO led to faster response latencies to words reflecting the SO-shared worldview.
• Participants anticipated more meaningful interactions and tuned social behavior to the SO-shared worldview.
• Threatening the SO-shared worldview activated goal pursuit to restore meaning.

Conclusions:

• Transference implicitly activates shared meaning systems with significant others.
• This activation serves epistemic functions, driving the pursuit and protection of shared worldviews.
• The findings highlight the role of SO representations in maintaining and defending shared realities.