Implicit Interpersonal Attraction in Small Groups: Automatically Activated Evaluations Predict Actual Behavior Toward Social Partners

The present research investigated the nature and behavioral consequences of interpersonal attraction in small groups. In line with dual-process models of information processing, we studied the influence of implicit and explicit evaluations of interaction partners on actual friendly behavior in two social contexts. In two studies, 247 unacquainted same-sex participants (N1 = 139; N2 = 108)—assigned to groups of four to six members—rated each other by completing a variant of the affective priming task to assess implicit interpersonal attraction and a self-report to measure explicit interpersonal attraction. Social relations analyses indicated that implicit and explicit interpersonal attraction were (a) primarily present on the relationship level, (b) reliably assessed, (c) independent of each other, and (d) predicted behavior in subsequent interactions. Importantly, implicit interpersonal attraction predicted both actual behavior in an online game and friendly behavior in a group discussion task above and b...