Attitudes often form instantly without any introspectively accessible basis

Evidence

An “instant attitude” can be defined as a near-immediate liking or dislike for a novel object on first encounter with it (see Fiske, 1982, for a similar idea captured by the term schema-triggered affect). Although little studied in research, instant attitudes may be very common. For example, it is common—at least for the present authors—to experience a sense of almost immediate sympathy or antipathy for characters in drama, fiction, or news reports, and also with individual performers or teams in athletic competitions. In some cases, an explicit basis for the instant attitude may seem obvious to its possessor: there is apparent self-other similarity, or an athletic team is from one’s home town or university, or a fictional character is depicted in blatantly admirable or despicable terms. In other cases, the instant attitude may have no introspectively accessible basis and, therefore, likely merits identification as an implicit attitude. — Anthony G. Greenwald and Mahzarin R. Banaji, Implicit Social Cognition, 106

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the ‘instant attitude’ construct (near-immediate liking/disliking of novel objects) and situates it relative to Fiske’s schema-triggered affect and to the implicit attitude category.
• QUESTION: The key testable claim — instant attitudes lacking introspectively accessible bases count as implicit — is exactly the kind of phenomenon an implicit bias measure should track but the authors flag as ‘little studied.’
• XREF: connects to: Research practice overwhelmingly assumes attitudes operate consciously — Anthony G. Greenwald and Mahzarin R. Banaji, Implicit Social Cognition: Attitudes,…, 78; Attitudes predict behavior even without attentional focus — Anthony G. Greenwald and Mahzarin R. Banaji, Implicit Social Cognition: Attitudes,…, 79; Instant likes and dislikes often arise without any introspectively accessible basis. — Anthony G. Greenwald and Mahzarin R. Banaji, Implicit Social Cognition: Attitudes,…, 107 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Instant likes and dislikes often arise without any introspectively accessible basis. #expands (0.99) — Anthony G. Greenwald and Mahzarin R. Banaji, Implicit Social Cognition, 107
• Implicit attitudes are past-experience traces not introspectively identified by the actor. #expands (0.82) — Anthony G. Greenwald and Mahzarin R. Banaji, Implicit Social Cognition, 80
• Emotion gives psychopolitics efficient access below conscious reflection #corroborates (0.80)
• Stereotypes can be after-the-fact rationalizations justifying pre-existing emotions #corroborates (0.74)
• Attitudes activated by one object can be misattributed to another #expands (0.72) — Anthony G. Greenwald and Mahzarin R. Banaji, Implicit Social Cognition, 30