Question

What might be a purpose of the mere exposure effect from an evolutionary perspective?

Answer 1

Mere-exposure effect or the familiarity effect as it is called in the social psychology means that you start preferring something just because you are familiar with the said something being that a person, paintings, words, symbols or something else. From the evolutionary perspective this could have developed in order to avoid the unfamiliar and therefore some potentially dangerous stimulant.

Answer 2

Answer: To avoid unfamiliar and possibly dangerous stimuli.

Explanation:

The mere exposure effect is a psychological phenomenon by which we usually reveal an inclination for things simply because they are known to us. It refers to a situation in which a certain stimulus has been available to a subject’s perception, either consciously or subconsciously.

It was first proven by the Polish-born psychologist Robert Zajonc, who performed a seminal experiment in 1968.