The nonconscious cessation of affiliative motivation: A replication and extension study

Previous research has documented that incidentally processed action-words can produce corresponding behavior and that affective-motivational processes modulate these effects. The present study aimed to (1) replicate earlier work showing that behavioral effects of exposure to social affiliation related action-words (e.g., socialize, party, going-out) cease when these action-words are co-activated with negative stimuli, (2) probe moderation effects of individual differences in the affiliation motive, and (3) examine whether action-word priming effects on behavior rely on specific-word associations rather than the activation of a broad concept. Results of an experimental study (N = 191) showed that exposure-effects of affiliation related words on behavior instrumental in attaining affiliation goals cease when these words were co-activated with negative affect, but this cessation effect was relatively weak and non-significant. Subsequent analyses revealed that the effect was moderated by the affiliation motive: The cessation effect mainly occurred for individuals with a strong affiliation motive. Further, we found no evidence that word priming effects do merely occur via specific-word associations.