There’s Nothing Social about Social Priming: Derailing the “Train Wreck”
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Abstract
Failures to replicate high-profile priming effects have raised questions about the reliability of so-called “social priming” phenomena. However, not only are many of the relevant studies not particularly social in nature, but other robust priming effects that are clearly social in nature do not count as social priming. Most importantly, the focus on the supposedly social aspect of the work has obscured factors that help to account for the relative reliability of priming effects. Here, we examine the construct of social priming, describe some simple demonstrations on the role of experimental design in priming reproducibility, and discuss future avenues for building a better understanding of priming. We conclude that the term “social priming” should be laid to rest, and that it is time to move past arguments about the reliability of specific effects and shift our energy to building theories that help us better understand the mechanisms underlying priming effects.
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This form of priming is said to occur when a stimulus influences subsequent behavior without conscious guidance or intention.
“This form of priming is said to occur when “a stimulus influences subsequent behavior without conscious guidance or intention”55”
From Accuracy prompts are a replicable and generalizable approach for reducing the spread of misinformation (2022) · cites this paper as [55]
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- Authors
- Sherman, J. W., & Rivers, A. M.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Davis (US)
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Sherman, Jeffrey W.
- Rivers, Andrew M.
- Venue
- Psychological Inquiry
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2021-01-02
- Volume
- 32
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1-11
- ISSN
- 1047-840X (ISSN-L)
- 1532-7965
- OpenAlex
- W3142617309
- Cited by
- 62
- References
- 92
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 2
- FWCI
- 12.13
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Licence
- public-domain
- Locations
- Psychological Inquiry (publishedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, public-domain)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Psychology of Social Influence
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Keywords
- social priming, replication failure, reproducibility, experimental design
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