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mere exposure effect
You like things more simply because you saw them.
A 1968 study demonstrated that participants rated nonsense symbols as more positive after repeated, brief exposures.
Familiarity signals safety to the brain, overriding a logical assessment of the stimulus itself.
Your preferences are often just echoes of your environment.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Robert Zajonc, 1968
- What the check found
- The 1968 Zajonc paper is a foundational study in social psychology establishing the mere exposure effect using Turkish-like words and Chinese ideographs.
- Confidence
- Solid, with limits
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.