A unified theory of implicit attitudes, stereotypes, self-esteem, and self-concept.
This theoretical integration of social psychology's main cognitive and affective constructs was shaped by 3 influences: (a) recent widespread interest in automatic and implicit cognition, (b) development of the Implicit Association Test (IAT; A. G. Greenwald, D. E. McGhee, & J. L. K. Schwartz. 1998), and (c) social psychology's consistency theories of the 1950s, especially F. Heider's (1958) balance theory. The balanced identity design is introduced as a method to test correlational predictions of the theory. Data obtained with this method revealed that predicted consistency patterns were strongly apparent in the data for implicit (IAT) measures but not in those for parallel explicit (self-report) measures. Two additional not-yet-tested predictions of the theory are described.
Greenwald
Anthony G
AG
Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle 98195-1525, USA. agg@u.washington.edu
Banaji
Mahzarin R
MR
Rudman
Laurie A
LA
Farnham
Shelly D
SD
Nosek
Brian A
BA
Mellott
Deborah S
DS
D001290:Attitude; D003071:Cognition; D006801:Humans; D008960:Models, Psychological; D012649:Self Concept; D013240:Stereotyping