Effects of Self-Control Resources on the Interplay between Implicit and Explicit Attitude Processes in the Subliminal Mere Exposure Paradigm

Recent studies have shown that the mere exposure effect under subliminal conditions is more likely to emergefor implicit attitudes than explicit attitudes. We tested whether the implicit effects of subliminal mere exposurecould spill over to the explicit level by depleting self-control resources. Participants were subliminally exposedto a novel female photograph. Then, implicit and explicit attitudes toward an exposed and an unexposedphotograph were measured. This basic design was crossed with a cognitive load manipulation, which shoulddeplete the capacity of self-control resources (low cognitive load vs. high cognitive load). Results showed thatthe subliminal mere exposure effect occurred for not only implicit attitudes but also explicit attitudes whenparticipants’ cognitive resources were depleted in the high cognitive load condition. In contrast, when cognitiveresources were not depleted, the subliminal mere exposure effect only emerged for implicit attitudes. Thesefindings support the contention that self-control failures could facilitate implicit effects of subliminal mereexposure toward the explicit level.