Abstract
The present study investigated whether repeated approach or avoidance toward a target will result in a change in implicit attitude. Participants first completed the IAT (the Implicit Association Test) measuring their implicit attitudes toward ovals and rectangles (Time 1). A sorting task was then administered, with cards marked with ovals or rectangles. Participants turned up the cards one by one, and sorted them by the marked figures. In the oval-approach condition, they placed the ovals toward themselves (i.e. approach), whereas the rectangles were placed away (i.e. avoidance), and vice versa in the rectangle-approach condition. Upon completion of the sorting task, the same IAT as Time 1 was administered at Time 2. The results showed that implicit attitude became relatively positive toward the approached target, while relatively negative toward the avoided. The unconscious process of attitude change and the relationship between implicit and explicit attitudes were discussed.
