Personality and Social Psychology Review

This article describes a 2-systems model that explains social behavior as ajointfunction ofreflective and impulsiveprocesses. Inparticular, it is assumed thatsocial behavior is controlled by 2 interacting systems thatfollow different operatingprinciples. The reflective system generates behavioral decisions that are based on knowledge about facts and values, whereas the impulsive system elicits behavior through associative links and motivational orientations. The proposed model describes how the 2 systems interact at various stages ofprocessing, andhow theiroutputs may determine behavior in a synergistic or antagonisticfashion. It extendsprevious models by integrating motivational components that allow moreprecisepredictions ofbehavior. The implications ofthis reflective-impulsive model are applied to various phenomenafrom social psychology and beyond. Extending previous dual-process accounts, this model is not limitedto specific domains ofmentalfunctioning andattempts to integrate cognitive, motivational, and behavioral mechanisms.