Embodied constraints as elements in attitude construction

Abstract Simonson holds that non‐constructed “inherent preferences” influence many expressed attitudes as well as behavioral choices. These inherent preferences are not mentally represented, but amount to embodied constraints that (for example) make a person like a new product on an initial encounter. This article situates Simonson's argument in the social–psychological literature on attitudes. Existing evidence does suggest that people sometimes are surprised by their evaluations of experiences (failures of affective forecasting). However, the problematic concept of non‐constructed inherent preferences need not be invoked to explain such effects; existing models of the role of direct experience in attitudes are adequate.