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The 'Conceptual Distance Effect' in the Causal Effects Under Experimental Manipulation Between Attitude and
Yang Yang1, Xue Bai2, Jiejie Liao3
1Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
Behavioral Sciences (Basel, Switzerland)
|February 27, 2026
Summary
Conceptual distance explains how attitudes and stereotypes influence each other. Closer trait dimensions (warmth, morality) show stronger causal effects than distant ones (competence), impacting social cognition and bias reduction.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Cognitive Science
- Social Cognition
Background:
- Attitudes and stereotypes influence social cognition, but findings on their connection are inconsistent.
- Prior research lacks a framework to explain varying strengths of attitude-stereotype influence.
Purpose of the Study:
- Introduce and test the construct of conceptual distance to explain attitude-stereotype influence discrepancies.
- Investigate the relationship between evaluative proximity and causal effects between attitudes and stereotypes.
Main Methods:
- Measured conceptual distance using a forced-choice task assessing trait-valence alignment.
- Manipulated attitudes/stereotypes via evaluative conditioning (EC).
- Assessed effects using explicit self-reports and Implicit Association Tests (IATs).
Main Results:
- Stronger causal effects were observed for stereotype dimensions evaluatively closer to attitudes (warmth, morality).
- Weaker effects were found for evaluatively distant dimensions (competence).
- Conceptual distance predicted the strength of experimentally induced influence.
Conclusions:
- Conceptual distance offers a framework for understanding attitude-stereotype interactions.
- Findings have implications for interventions aimed at reducing stereotype-based bias.
- The study advances theories of causal cognition and social representation.
Keywords:
attitudebeliefcausal effects under experimental manipulationconceptual distanceevaluative conditioningsocial cognitionstereotypeMore Related Videos
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