Illusory-Correlation Effects on Implicit and Explicit Evaluation

• Published in: Personality & social psychology bulletin 2021-10, Vol.47 (10), p.1480-1494
• Main Authors: Van Dessel, Pieter, Ratliff, Kate, Brannon, Skylar M., Gawronski, Bertram, De Houwer, Jan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Attributes; Evaluation research; Implicit beliefs; Impressions; Majority groups; Measurement; Minority groups; Priming; Stereotypes; Tests
• ISSN: 0146-1672; 1552-7433
• DOI: 10.1177/0146167220977706

Research suggests that people sometimes perceive a relationship between stimuli when no such relationship exists (i.e., illusory correlation). Illusory-correlation effects are thought to play a central role in the formation of stereotypes and evaluations of minority versus majority groups, often leading to less favorable impressions of minorities. Extant theories differ in terms of whether they attribute illusory-correlation effects to processes operating during learning (belief formation) or measurement (belief expression), and whether different evaluation measures should be differentially sensitive to illusory-correlation effects. Past research found mixed evidence for dissociative effects of illusory-correlation manipulations on measures of implicit (i.e., automatic) and explicit (i.e., controlled) evaluation. Four high-powered studies obtained illusory-correlation effects on explicit evaluations, but not implicit evaluations probed with an Implicit Association Test, Evaluative Priming Task, and Affect Misattribution Procedure. The results are consistent with theories that attribute illusory-correlation effects to processes during belief expression.