Unconscious influences on mental processes
John Bargh's core research interest is in unconscious influences on the higher mental processes, including social and interpersonal behavior. These include affect and evaluation, motivation and goal pursuit, imitation and mimicry, and situational/contextual triggers for goals and behavior. The power of goals, whether pursued consciously or unconsciously, on selective attention, preferences, and evaluation, as well as behavior, has been a main topic of the past 20 years - as have the influence of physical experiences (warm, cold, rough, smooth) and primary motives (safety, survival) on judgments and political attitudes.