The Psychology Book

234 ROBERT ZAJONC

important implications for the study
of decision-making processes. It
suggests that, contrary to what we
may believe, it is not reason and
logic that guide our decisions; in
fact, we make fast, instinctive,
emotion-based decisions before we
have even had a chance to consider
the choice cognitively—we make
judgments without information. If
this is true, it follows that our
logical reasoning merely justifies
and rationalizes the decisions we

have already made, rather than

actually serving to inform the

choice in the first place.

Zajonc concludes that “affect

is always present as a companion

to thought, whereas the converse

is not true for cognition.” We can

never think about something

without a feeling attached; as

Zajonc says, we do not just see

“a house,” we see “a handsome

house” or “a pretentious house.”

Every perception we have contains

some affect, or feeling. The primacy

of affect over cognition is also

apparent in memory, he says, as

Frederick Bartlett noted in his book,

Remembering: “When a subject is

being asked to remember, very

often the first thing that emerges is

something of the nature of attitude.”

Interpersonal attraction

The impact of the mere exposure

effect extends beyond the confines

of the laboratory, and out into the

area of interpersonal attraction. In

this context, the phenomenon is

referred to as the “propinquity

effect,” the way we tend to form

friendships or romantic relationships

with people we see regularly. One

explanation for this focuses on

evolution: when animals are

exposed to something for the first

time, they often respond with fear

and aggression, but repeated

exposures—during which the

animal realizes the perceived threat

does not materialize—lead to a

reduction in negative responses.

Zajonc explored this notion further

with human subjects, discovering

that people form very negative

attitudes toward an imaginary

group of unfamiliar people,

attributing unpleasant qualities

to them for no apparent reason

other than the fact that they are

complete strangers. However, as

with shapes and symbols, repeated

exposure is shown to increase

trust and affection.

Another explanation for the

propinquity effect focuses on

the many factors involved in

interpersonal attraction, which

include familiarity, similarity of

Repeated exposure to a brand

can create a liking for it, even when

it is presented without any factual

information and requires no decision-

making from the person viewing it.

The advertising industry

has always attributed to

exposure formidable

advertising potential.

Robert Zajonc

The form of experience

that we came to call

“feeling” accompanies

all cognitions.

Robert Zajonc