Psychology Atlas

How The Mind Works
Psychological Phenomena

Mere Exposure Effect

Decision-Making and Judgment Biases

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The mere exposure effect is a psychological phenomenon in which people come to like a stimulus, such as a word, image, sound or person, more simply because they have been repeatedly exposed to it, independent of the stimulus's actual qualities. The effect has been demonstrated even when the repeated exposure occurs below the threshold of conscious awareness. Early groundwork was laid by Gustav Fechner in 1876, but the psychologist Robert Zajonc developed the modern theoretical account and the term itself in a series of studies published in 1968.

Facts
Core Claim
Simple, repeated exposure to something, on its own, tends to increase a person's liking for it. 1
First Described Year
1968 1
Cross-Tradition Connections

In Branch

Sources
1. Wikipedia: Mere Exposure Effect
Wikimedia FoundationLead section
Quote, Lead section
The mere-exposure effect is a psychological phenomenon by which people tend to develop a liking or disliking for things merely because they are familiar with them.
1. Wikipedia: Mere Exposure Effect
Wikimedia FoundationHistory section
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