title: Can we undo our first impressions? The role of reinterpretation in reversing implicit evaluations.
abstract: Little work has examined whether implicit evaluations can be effectively "undone" after learning new revelations. Across 7 experiments, participants fully reversed their implicit evaluation of a novel target person after reinterpreting earlier information. Revision occurred across multiple implicit evaluation measures (Experiments 1a and 1b), and only when the new information prompted a reinterpretation of prior learning versus did not (Experiment 2). The updating required active consideration of the information, as it emerged only with at least moderate cognitive resources (Experiment 3). Self-reported reinterpretation predicted (Experiment 4) and mediated (Experiment 5) revised implicit evaluations beyond the separate influence of how thoughtfully participants considered the new information in general. Finally, the revised evaluations were durable 3 days later (Experiment 6). We discuss how these results inform existing theoretical models, and consider implications for future research.
authors: Department of Psychology.
authors: Thomas C
authors: TC
authors: Mann
authors: Department of Psychology.
authors: Melissa J
authors: MJ
authors: Ferguson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D017438:Bisphenol A-Glycidyl Methacrylate; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D012938:Social Perception; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: C084548:Thin Film Cement; D017438:Bisphenol A-Glycidyl Methacrylate