Effects of mere exposure: A comment.

Zajonc's thesis that mere exposure enhances attitudes is both novel and intriguing. In its general form, this hypothesis seems to challenge the time-honored maxim of Familiarity breeds contempt, and rejects the traditional reinforcement theory whereby positive adient responses are established through conditioning and association. Zajonc presents two main lines of evidence in support of his hypothesis: one relates to the observation of an empirical correlation between the frequency of words in language and their positive affect; the other consists of data on the effect upon positive or negative affect of experimental manipulation of stimulus exposure. Let us see how this evidence bears upon Zajonc's hypothesis.