When gift-giving produces dissonance: Effects of subliminal affiliation priming on choices for one's self versus close others

Past research on cognitive dissonance indicated that people from independent (e.g. European-American) and interdependent (e.g. East-Asian) cultural backgrounds show different patterns of choice justification: whereas choice made for oneself affirms the independent view of the self, choice made for close others affirms the interdependent view of the self. We hypothesized that interpersonal choice considerations may be temporally accessible even among habitually independent European-Americans. The present research provides the first experimental evidence that choice justification varies as a function of both subliminal affiliation priming and the target of choice (self vs. close others). Results from three studies indicate that subliminal priming of affiliation increases justification of a choice European-Americans made for a close other, while decreasing justification of a choice made for the self. Implications for theories related to cognitive dissonance, subliminal processing and cultural meaning systems are discussed.

► We subliminally prime people with affiliation vs. neutral words.
► Participants chose between similarly attractive gifts.
► We examine if justifying a choice depends on whether it was made for self or others
► After priming, European-Americans justified self-choices less than other-choices.