9409448 Bargh ABSTRACT Recent research has demonstrated the automaticity of much of social perception. Stereotypes have been found to become active automatically upon the presence of the group features (e.g., skin color, gender), and behaviors have been found to be automatically categorized in trait terms. The current research project expands on these findings to investigate other direct and preconscious effects that the social environment has on psychological phenomena. Specifically, we examine preconscious evaluation of people, objects, and events, building on encouraging recent findings of an immediate and reflexive classification of stimuli as either good or bad. Another preconscious effect is the activation of one's chronic goals and motives by features of the social situation in which they have been chosen frequently and consistently in the past. Thus, goals to achieve or to be patient, and so forth may become automatically tied to certain kinds of social situations, so that those behaviors are triggered subsequently without conscious choice. Finally, the special role that power features of a situation play in automatically triggering one's goals is examined, especially in the context of examining the role of power-goal links in the misuse of power for private ends. This program of research considers the extent to which our emotions, judgments, and even behavior may be outside of our conscious control. A considerable amount of thought processes occur prior to one's conscious awareness of what is happening in one's environment. We know a chair is a chair without having to think about it, but this "given" of our conscious experience represents a good deal of very fast mental work. This research examines the influence of fast, "preconscious" thought processes on emotional feelings, motivations, and behavior. For example, we may have immediate bad feelings just from seeing the name of a country where we didn't ha ve a good experience, without any intention of remembering that bad experience. And if one always pursues the same purpose within a type of situation, such as at a party or a meeting with the boss, over time this goal can be triggered just by being in that situation, without one needing to consciously decide to pursue it. Using an experimental technique called "priming", this research investigates the influence of preconscious thought processes, such as those triggered by particular situations and racial groups, on behaviors, such as task persistence and hostility, which occur without the person's awareness of why they are behaving that way. As such, this research is studying the mechanism of unconscious motivations. Among the implications of this work will be insights into the pervasiveness of discrimination against certain groups and the prospects for change.
