Anxiety, Cognitive Biases, and Evaluative Conditioning: An Eye-Tracking Experiment

Anca Lazar; Marine Rougier; Jan De Houwer; Marco Perugini; Andrei Rusu; Florin Alin Sava

doi:10.5334/irsp.1205

Anxiety, Cognitive Biases, and Evaluative Conditioning: An Eye-Tracking Experiment

International Review of Social Psychology

Volume 39 (2026): Issue 1

By: Anca Lazar , Marine Rougier , Jan De Houwer , Marco Perugini , Andrei Rusu and Florin Alin Sava

Open Access

|May 2026

Abstract

Prior research revealed a correlation between individual differences in neuroticism (specifically, the component of trait anxiety) and evaluative conditioning (i.e., changes in attitude due to stimulus pairings). In two studies (N = 274 and N = 294), we examined which cognitive biases may explain this relation. In an evaluative conditioning procedure that included either clearly valenced (positive or negative) or ambivalent (positive and negative) stimuli, we used eye-tracking technology to measure attentional bias (dwell time within stimulus areas of interest), valence recollection tests to measure contingency awareness and memory bias, and adjective ratings to assess interpretation bias. In the second experiment, we additionally assessed attentional avoidance strategies. Correlation analyses did not reveal significant associations between any personality variable (neuroticism, anxiety, behavioral inhibition) and evaluative conditioning effects in either experiment. Implications are discussed in terms of methodological and theoretical contributions.

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Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/irsp.1205 | Journal eISSN: 2397-8570

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Language: English

Page range: 7 - 7

Submitted on: Nov 23, 2025

Accepted on: Mar 10, 2026

Published on: May 11, 2026

Published by: Ubiquity Press

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Publication frequency: 1 issue per year

Keywords:

evaluative conditioning,

ambivalence,

anxiety,

cognitive bias,

eye-tracking

© 2026 Anca Lazar, Marine Rougier, Jan De Houwer, Marco Perugini, Andrei Rusu, Florin Alin Sava, published by Ubiquity Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 39 (2026): Issue 1