Generalization versus contextualization in automatic evaluation revisited: A meta-analysis of successful and failed replications.

Abstract

To account for disparate findings in the literature on automatic evaluation, Gawronski, Rydell, Vervliet, and De Houwer (2010) proposed a representational theory that specifies the contextual conditions under which automatic evaluations reflect initially acquired attitudinal information or subsequently acquired counterattitudinal information. The theory predicts that automatic evaluations should reflect the valence of expectancy-violating counterattitudinal information only in the context in which this information had been learned. In contrast, automatic evaluations should reflect the valence of initial attitudinal information in any other context, be it the context in which the initial attitudinal information had been acquired (ABA renewal) or a novel context in which the target object had not been encountered before (ABC renewal). The current article presents a meta-analysis of all published and unpublished studies from the authors' research groups regardless of whether they produced the predicted pattern of results. Results revealed average effect sizes of d = 0.249 for ABA renewal (30 studies, N = 3,142) and d = 0.174 for ABC renewal (27 studies, N = 2,930), both of which were significantly different from zero. Effect sizes were moderated by attention to context during learning, order of positive and negative information, context-valence contingencies during learning, and sample country. Although some of the obtained moderator effects are consistent with the representational theory, others require theoretical refinements and future research to gain deeper insights into the mechanisms underlying contextual renewal.

Attention to context during evaluative learning and context-dependent automatic evaluation: A cross-cultural analysis

“…According to the second hypothesis, Easterners pay less attention to context during the learning of counterattitudinal information than Westerners, and therefore show weaker effects of both ABA and ABC renewal. Although a recent meta-analysis (Gawronski et al, 2015) seemed to support the second hypothesis, the current findings contradict both hypotheses. Both Easterners and Westerners showed (1) enhanced attention to context during the encoding of expectancyviolating counterattitudinal information and (2) contextualized changes in automatic evaluations after learning conflicting evaluative information.…”

“…No other effects reached statistical significance (all Fs < 0.98, all ps > .32). To decompose this interaction, we conducted a priori pairwise comparisons reflecting the emergence of ABA and ABC renewal (see Gawronski et al, 2015).…”

“…Consequently, Easterners should show weaker effects of ABA and ABC renewal compared to Westerners. Gawronski et al (2015) recently conducted a metaanalysis of all studies from their research groups that tested predictions of Gawronski et al's (2010) representational theory. Because the meta-analysis included a small number of unpublished studies conducted in Singapore, the findings provide preliminary evidence for the current question of whether Easterners and Westerners differ with regard to their susceptibility to ABA and ABC renewal.…”

“…In their representational theory, Gawronski et al (2010) specified the processes by which context cues become integrated into the representation of conflicting evaluative information about an object, which allows these cues to moderate automatic evaluations upon future encounters with that object (for a review, see Gawronski & Cesario, 2013). Despite the large body of evidence supporting the theory (for a meta-analysis, see Gawronski, Hu, Rydell, Vervliet, & De Houwer, 2015), most studies were conducted with samples from Western cultures. Because research in cross-cultural psychology suggests possible East-West differences in the context-effects predicted by the representational theory (Ye & Gawronski, in press), it seems imperative to investigate the generality of these effects across cultures.…”

Attentional Processes in Social Perception

“…Research conducted by Gawronski and colleagues lends support to this hypothesis (Gawronski, Hu, Rydell, Vervliet, & De Houwer, 2015;Gawronski, Rydell, Vervliet, & De Houwer, 2010;Rydell & Gawronski, 2009). In their studies, they show that the generalization and contextualization of evaluative impressions depend on the order in which they were formed.…”