Mere-exposure effect

A Cognitive bias where we tend to develop a preference for things because we're familiar with them.

References

Doty, Into The Magic Shop (p. 135).

Another mystery of the brain is that it will always choose what is familiar over what is unfamiliar.

Backlinks

• Understanding requires elaboration
  • We often mistake familiarity for understanding. When you listen to a talk or read a book about a topic that you're familiar with, it's a mistake to think that you understand that topic. Re-reading is especially dangerous as not only you'll believe that you understand what you are re-reading, but you'll also tend to like them more due to the Mere-exposure effect (Ahrens 86).
• Visualisation in great detail induces familiarity
  • When Visualisation is applied with great detail, it may induce familiarity. This familiarity in turn will create a Mere-exposure effect.
• My wife was happy to move to the UK over Germany due to familiarity
  • We later moved to the UK without even trying to visit the country first, it was an instant move. Mere-exposure effect was at play.