PSPXXX10.1177/0146167216684131Personality <italic>and Social Psychology Bulletin</italic>Gawronski et al. 684131research-article2016 Article Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin Temporal Stability of Implicit and 2017, Vol. 43(3) 300 –312 © 2016 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc Explicit Measures: A Longitudinal Analysis Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0146167216684131 pspb.sagepub.com Bertram Gawronski1, Mike Morrison2, Curtis E. Phills3, and Silvia Galdi4 Abstract A common assumption about implicit measures is that they reflect early experiences, whereas explicit measures are assumed to reflect recent experiences. This assumption subsumes two distinct hypotheses: (a) Implicit measures are more resistant to situationally induced changes than explicit measures; (b) individual differences on implicit measures are more stable over time than individual differences on explicit measures. Although the first hypothesis has been the subject of numerous studies, the second hypothesis has received relatively little attention. The current research addressed the second hypothesis in two longitudinal studies that compared the temporal stability of individual differences on implicit and explicit measures in three content domains (self-concept, racial attitudes, political attitudes). In both studies, implicit measures showed significantly lower stability over time (weighted average r = .54) than conceptually corresponding explicit measures (weighted average r = .75), despite comparable estimates of internal consistency. Implications for theories of implicit social cognition and interpretations of implicit and explicit measures are discussed. Keywords attitudes, implicit measures, longitudinal analysis, self-concept, temporal stability Received March 5, 2015; revision accepted October 30, 2016 It is quite difficult to find references to psychoanalytic con- Seibt, & Banaji, 2006; Rudman, Phelan, & Heppen, 2007; cepts in contemporary social psychology. Yet, there are Rydell, McConnell, Strain, Claypool, & Hugenberg, 2007; some popular ideas that have considerable resemblance to but see Castelli, Carraro, Gawronski, & Gava, 2010). the assumptions of psychoanalytic theory. One such idea is Conceptually, such interpretations involve two related, yet the hypothesis that traces of past experiences may linger in empirically distinct, hypotheses: (1) Implicit measures are the unconscious after people revised their conscious beliefs more resistant to situationally induced changes than explicit in response to recent experiences (Greenwald & Banaji, measures; (2) Individual differences on implicit measures 1995; Rudman, 2004; Wilson, Lindsey, & Schooler, 2000). are more stable over time than individual differences on This hypothesis is most prevalent in the field of implicit explicit measures. social cognition (for a review, see Gawronski & Payne, Although the first hypothesis has been the subject of 2010), in which dissociations between implicit and explicit numerous studies (for a review, see Gawronski & Sritharan, measures are often attributed to a lack of introspective 2010), the second hypothesis has received relatively little access to traces of past experiences. The basic assumption is attention. In the current research, we tested the second that implicit measures provide a window to unconscious hypothesis by comparing the temporal stability of individual representations that have their roots in early experiences, differences on implicit and explicit measures in three content whereas explicit measures capture more recently acquired, conscious representations (for a critical discussion, see Gawronski, LeBel, & Peters, 2007). 1 Although the claim that implicit measures tap into The University of Texas at Austin, USA 2Western University, London, Ontario, Canada unconscious representations has been challenged by 3University of North Florida, Jacksonville, USA research showing that people are able to predict their scores 4University of Padova, Italy on implicit measures with a high level of accuracy (Hahn, Corresponding Author: Judd, Hirsh, & Blair, 2014), theoretical interpretations in Bertram Gawronski, Department of Psychology, The University of Texas terms of early versus recent experiences are still very com- at Austin, 108 E Dean Keeton A8000, Austin, TX 78712-1043, USA. mon (e.g., Anglin, 2015; Baron & Banaji, 2006; Gregg, Email: [email protected] Gawronski et al. 301 domains (self-concept, racial attitudes, political attitudes) for & Jordan, 2009). Although there are several other theories time intervals of 1 to 2 months. that aim to explain asymmetric effects on implicit and explicit measures (e.g., Petty, Briñol, & DeMarree, 2007; Resistance to Situationally Induced Rydell & McConnell, 2006), a shared assumption of these theories is that, depending on various conditions, implicit Changes measures can be more or less resistant to situationally A common assumption in research using implicit measures is induced changes than explicit measures, which is consistent that they capture traces of past experiences that are relatively with the diversity of findings in the literature (for a review, resistant to change. This hypothesis has been advanced by see Gawronski & Bodenhausen, 2006). theories assuming that attitudes are not erased from memory when novel experiences lead to attitude change (e.g., Petty, Temporal Stability of Individual Tormala, Briñol, & Jarvis, 2006; Wilson et al., 2000). Differences According to these theories, newly acquired attitudes usually override the impact of old attitudes on explicit measures. Yet, Although the available evidence suggests that implicit mea- implicit measures are assumed to limit people’s ability to sures are less resistant to situationally induced changes than retrieve the new attitude from memory, allowing the old atti- explicit measures under certain conditions (e.g., Gawronski tude to shape evaluative responses on the measure. These & LeBel, 2008; Gibson, 2008; Grumm et al., 2009; Olson & assumptions are consistent with research showing that many Fazio, 2006; Strick et al., 2009), the observation of such well-known manipulations of attitude change influence changes does not necessarily question a persistent impact of responses on explicit, but not implicit, measures (e.g., early experiences. After all, it is possible that experimental Gawronski & Strack, 2004; Gregg et al., 2006). However, effects on implicit measures reflect situationally induced there is also a large body of research showing the opposite shifts that are still anchored in early experiences. This issue pattern (e.g., Gawronski & LeBel, 2008; Gibson, 2008; has been a prominent source of confusion in debates between Grumm, Nestler, & von Collani, 2009; Olson & Fazio, 2006; social and personality psychologists, in that experimental Strick, van Baaren, Holland, & van Knippenberg, 2009). effects on a given measure do not conflict with a simultane- These disparate findings inspired the development of new ous influence of stable trait-related factors. As noted repeat- theories that specify the conditions under which a given fac- edly in the person-situation debate (e.g., Funder, 2006), the tor should lead to (a) change on explicit, but not implicit, two sources of variance can be independent, in that situa- measures; (b) change on implicit, but not explicit, measures; tional factors may cause systematic shifts in mean values and (c) change on both explicit and implicit measures. without affecting the rank order of individual differences. One example is the associative–propositional evaluation Along the same lines, evidence for situationally induced (APE) model (Gawronski & Bodenhausen, 2006, 2011), changes on implicit measures does not rule out a persistent which attributes asymmetric effects on implicit and explicit impact of early experiences that remains stable over time. measures to the differential involvement of associative and The latter question cannot be answered with experimental propositional processes. According to the APE model, asso- data, but requires longitudinal investigations on the temporal ciative processes involve the activation of associations on stability of individual differences. the basis of feature similarity and spatio-temporal contiguity; An important aspect in this context concerns the theoreti- propositional processes involve the validation of activated cal meaning of mean values and rank orders of individual information on the basis of cognitive consistency. For exam- differences in longitudinal studies. In a strict sense, equiva- ple, repeated pairings of a conditioned stimulus (CS) with a lent sample means over time do not speak to the stability of positive or negative unconditioned stimulus (US) are individual differences, because stable mean values at the assumed to influence evaluative responses to the CS on sample level may conceal fluctuations at the individual level. implicit measures via the formation of associative links, and For example, in a study on racial attitudes before and after these newly formed associations may or may not be regarded the 2008 U.S. presidential election, Schmidt and Nosek as a valid basis for evaluative judgments on explicit mea- (2010) found that the average levels of racial bias on implicit sures. As a result, CS–US pairings should lead to changes in and explicit measures barely changed during Barack Obama’s CS evaluations on implicit measures, which may generalize presidential campaign and