The ease with which stimuli can be perceived and processed, also known as fluency, may have a biasing influence on judgments of objects and people encountered in everyday, real-world settings. Photographs and television images vary in their clarity and contrast; faces of others vary in their symmetry; and concepts, people, and settings vary in their familiarity. All of these variables (clarity, symmetry, familiarity), among others, increase fluency and have been shown to lead to more favorable evaluations. In fact, research has repeatedly shown that fluently-processed objects are evaluated more favorably than are their less fluently processed counterparts. Yet surprisingly, little research has aimed to uncover the possible behavioral consequences of fluency. This research explores this possibility.
Three lines of research will examine the role of fluency in guiding social behaviors operating at the individual, interpersonal, and intergroup levels, namely, goal pursuit, mimicry, and intergroup contact. The proposed framework suggests that fluent processing of an object leads to more favorable evaluation and that this positive evaluation drives behavior. Specifically, because positive goals are more prone to be pursued and because liked individuals are more prone to be approached and mimicked, this framework suggests that increasing the fluent processing of these stimuli should increase one's willingness to pursue a goal, mimic an interaction partner, and approach a racial outgroup member. Each of these hypotheses will be tested in multiple studies. Because of its focus on behavioral rather than evaluative outcomes, this work promises to advance the fluency literature in a novel and important direction.
This research has broader impacts as well. Some of the proposed studies examine how fluency promotes positive interracial contact. Uncovering effective prejudice and discrimination reduction techniques has been a long-standing challenge for social psychologists, scholars in other fields of social justice, and society at large. To the extent that these findings uncover means to improve intergroup relations, they will be beneficial to parents, educators, and policy makers who strive to create and encourage interracial harmony. Additionally, this research serves in the training of graduate and undergraduate students, and thus will contribute to the educational enrichment of these developing scholars.
