The Role of Awareness in Attitude Formation Through Evaluative Conditioning
Abstract
This article provides a review of past and contemporary debates regarding the role of awareness in attitude formation through evaluative conditioning (EC), that is, by repeatedly pairing a stimulus with other stimuli of positive or negative valence. Because EC is considered the most prototypical method to form and change the network of evaluative associations in memory, the role of awareness in this effect is critical to the question of whether attitudes may be formed and changed through dual processes. We analyze the reasons why there has been so much discussion and disagreement regarding the role of awareness, review past and contemporary methodologies and their limitations, discuss the role of mental processes and conditioning procedures, and identify promising directions for future research in this area.
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Early demonstrations with supposedly subliminal presentations have been criticized for using flawed designs, inadequate awareness checks, or no awareness checks at all.
“However, early demonstrations with supposedly subliminal presentations have been criticized for using flawed designs, inadequate awareness checks, or no awareness checks at all (for a review, see Sweldens et al. 2014).”
From Unawareness of Attitudes, Their Environmental Causes, and Their Behavioral Effects (2025) · cites this paper as Sweldens et al. 2014
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References 172 · Cited by 130
- Authors
- Sweldens, S., Corneille, O., & Yzerbyt, V.
- Affiliations
- INSEAD (FR)
- UCLouvain (BE)
- Venue
- Personality and Social Psychology Review
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2014-03-25
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 187-209
- ISSN
- 1088-8683 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-7957
- OpenAlex
- W2052345487
- Cited by
- 130
- References
- 172
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 2 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 36.80
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Personality and Social Psychology Review (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- EUR Research Repository (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (submittedVersion)
- DIAL (Catholic University of Leuven) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Keywords
- evaluative conditioning, awareness, attitude formation, attitude change, dual-process models, evaluative associations, memory, implicit learning, conditioning procedures
- MeSH terms
- Attitude, Awareness, Conditioning, Psychological, Humans, Mental Processes, Models, Psychological, Social Behavior
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