title: Going back to Donald: how comparisons shape judgmental priming effects.
abstract: The authors examine how judgmental priming effects are shaped by comparisons. Specifically, they suggest that concept priming involves spontaneous activation of concept-consistent standards, which are then spontaneously compared to the judgmental target. In 6 studies, they used a variety of priming methods (contextual cue, subliminal priming, indirect priming) to test these notions of spontaneous standard activation and spontaneous comparison. Study 1 demonstrates that priming a trait concept activates concept-consistent standards. Study 2 suggests that these activated standards contribute to priming effects. If alternative standards that are not particularly consistent with the primed concept are activated, priming effects diminish. Studies 3-6 show that the magnitude and direction of priming effects depend on the intensity and the type of the engaged comparison. Specifically, Study 3 demonstrates that the magnitude of a priming effect depends on the intensity of comparative processing. Studies 4 through 6 show that the direction of a priming effect (assimilation vs. contrast) depends on whether judges engage in a similarity or dissimilarity testing comparison mechanism--a factor which has been found to shape comparison consequences in other domains. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved).
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Cologne, Köln, Germany. thomas.mussweiler@uni-koeln.de
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mussweiler
authors.forename: Lysann
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Damisch
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D012938:Social Perception; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires