The impact of interpretation versus comparison mindsets on knowledge accessibility effects

Many models of social judgment assert that both the interpretation of a perceived target stimulus and the comparison of this stimulus to a relevant standard are important components of the impression formation process. The present research examines the consequences of the activation of mindsets corresponding to these components for the use and impact of accessible knowledge on subsequent judgments. The findings of three studies support the hypothesis that accessible knowledge is more likely to produce assimilative interpretation effects when an interpretation goal is activated, whereas contrastive comparison effects occur when a comparison goal is activated. These goal X knowledge priming effects occurred without perceivers being aware of having or working toward these mindsets during the target task. Implications for models of knowledge accessibility effects and other social phenomena are discussed. (C) 2001 Academic Press.