ABSTRACT
The proposition that the situation can shape an individual's thoughts, feelings and actions is so familiar as to be a social psychological truism (e.g., Ross & Nisbett, 1991). However, in demonstrating the power of the situation to “automatically” affect judgment and behavior, John Bargh extends this thesis by challenging prevailing assumptions that social behavior is necessarily predicated on conscious choice. In this chapter we focus our attention on a question that follows directly from the issues set out in the target article: Given the rich array of information accessible to the individual at any moment, which elements of information will actually guide judgment and behavior?
