This project investigated the effectiveness of evaluative statements (“X
will be associated with pleasant and Y with unpleasant”) versus evaluative
pairings (multiple pairings of X and Y with pleasant and unpleasant images)
in shifting implicit social and nonsocial attitudes. Study 1 (*N* = 675)
used names from fictitious social groups and Study 2 (*N* = 1034) used
human faces to demonstrate that implicit attitudes can change through
exposure to evaluative statements or evaluative pairings, with evaluative
pairings having no incremental effect over and above evaluative statements.
In Study 3 (*N* = 1072), where participants learned about nonsocial stimuli
(squares and rectangles), the relative effectiveness of evaluative pairings
versus evaluative statements remained the same, although the overall
learning effect was stronger than with social stimuli. These studies show
that implicit attitudes can be shifted quickly and effectively via
evaluative statements. Evaluative pairings do not add value beyond
evaluative statements.