Journal
PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY REVIEW
Volume 24, Issue 3, Pages 212-232Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
DOI: 10.1177/1088868320911325
Keywords
attitudes; implicit; dual-process models; automaticity; processing tree models
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Funding
- FRS-FNRS grant [T.0061.18]
- Heisenberg Grant of the German Research Foundation [HU 1978/7-1]
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This article provides a comprehensive review of divergent conceptualizations of the implicit construct that have emerged in attitude research over the past two decades. In doing so, our goal is to raise awareness of the harmful consequences of conceptual ambiguities associated with this terminology. We identify three main conceptualizations of the implicitness construct: the procedural conceptualization (implicit-as-indirect), the functional conceptualization (implicit-as-automatic), and the mental theory conceptualization (implicit-as-associative), as well as two hybrid conceptualizations (implicit-as-indirect-and-automatic, implicit-as-driven-by-affective-gut-reactions). We discuss critical limitations associated with each conceptualization and explain that confusion also arises from their coexistence. We recommend discontinuing the usage of the implicit terminology in attitude research and research inspired by it. We offer terminological alternatives aimed at increasing both the precision of theorization and the practical value of future research.
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