非意識的過程と意識的過程の関係についての検討 : 評価者と対象の類似度に着目して

The effects of subliminal mere exposure on the assessment of the “Otaku” (“geek” or “nerd”) category were found to be maximized when a handful of atypical members (non-Otaku) were grouped with several typical members (Otaku). We examined whether similarity to self and stimulus (i.e., self-reported Otaku tendencies) moderated the mere exposure effect in relation to an Otaku target. Participants reported the degree to which they regarded themselves as Otaku. Participants were then exposed to stimuli with different contact ratios (70% Otaku, 30% Otaku, 0% Otaku, and control) following the procedure described in a previous study (Kawakami and Yoshida, 2013). Participants then reported their subjective impressions of an Otaku target. Participants who self-identified as Otaku evaluated the target more negatively on the explicit measure when exposed to a stimulus that mixed Otaku and non-Otaku. These findings indicate that participants who self-identified as Otaku exhibited an aversion to in-group members (“dozoku keno”). These patterns suggest that subliminal mere exposure effects for targets are moderated by similarity to self and stimulus. The unconscious and conscious processes of interpersonal cognition are discussed.