Implicit evaluation bias induced by approach and avoidance

We report a study in which faces with a neutral emotional expression were shown on a computer screen. By means of a joystick, participants pulled half of the faces closer (positive approach movement), and pushed the half away (negative avoidance movement). As a result, an operant evaluative conditioning effect occurred in a subsequent affective priming task: Participants responded more quickly to positive target words if they were preceded by a previously pulled face than a pushed face, and vice versa for negative target words. The effect became stronger the more often the faces had been trained to approach or to avoid. No effect was observed on explicit evaluations of the faces: Pushed faces were rated as sympathetic as pulled ones.