Review of
*Before You Know It: The Unconscious Reasons We Do What We Do*
by John Bargh
Heinemann, 2017
First, the positive aspects. John Bargh stands out as a prominent figure in social psychology, serving as an engaging and knowledgeable navigator of the research surrounding the significance of our motivations, objectives, habits, background, and environment in shaping our daily actions. His passion for the subject and his ability to carry out experiments with a flair that sets them apart from standard psychology studies is evident throughout this book, as is his affection for family, road trips, and Led Zeppelin. In “Before You Know It,” Bargh leads us through a range of notable demonstrations illustrating how minor variations can significantly influence our behavior, often without our complete awareness of their implications. Examples include his well-known experiment where students asked to complete a word unscrambling task with primes related to the concept of “elderly” walked more slowly down the corridor after leaving the experiment, or the research indicating that holding a warm drink led individuals to evaluate a stranger more positively. Beyond this tour of social psychology experiments conducted by someone with unparalleled insider insight, Bargh offers an exploration of human behavior that connects our social interactions with our understanding of cognition, neuroscience, and evolution. In his perspective, social psychology does not exist as a standalone field but is part of a wider, interdisciplinary narrative regarding the mind. He references Skinner, Freud, and Darwin alongside various notable historical and contemporary psychologists.
Now, the negative aspects. Like all areas of psychology, a considerable amount of the literature referenced in this book has undergone heightened scrutiny due to the ‘replication crisis.’ A central theme of the book, known as ‘social priming,’ has faced significant criticism for relying on the unstable foundation of unreliable, selectively published studies. This is not the appropriate venue to evaluate the validity of Bargh’s research methods, but it is noteworthy that he fails to address these critiques at any point.
Bargh’s broad application of the term ‘unconscious’ makes the term practically meaningless, in my view. He uses it for any behavior for which we do not provide a comprehensive account of all causative factors. Challenges in obtaining reliable self-reports about internal states, combined with the privileged vantage point of experimenters (who are aware of the experimental conditions) over participants (who each only understand one condition) make it fundamentally flawed to deduce from a lack of reporting that a participant is not aware of a driver of their behavior in any substantial sense. Bargh may choose to use ‘unconscious’ to imply ‘not frequently discussed,’ but this is an unjust maneuver against the reader, who may presume that the term possesses some deeper conceptual significance.
Bargh’s book does not fulfill the potential of any of its elements. The real-world anecdotes of individuals whose behavior has been ‘unconsciously’ influenced suggestively employed to motivate his chapters are engagingly recounted, yet the analysis lacks depth and could be more intricately intertwined with the experimental findings. The experiments described are intriguing, but—and perhaps this is the academic in me—I would have appreciated more discussion surrounding possible interpretations and detailed examination of the specific results. The theoretical perspective on the mind he promotes is attractively syncretic, as previously mentioned, but the experiments appear to merely validate some theoretical premise, often leaving it unclear what theories they contradict or practical uses they support. Lastly, despite the author’s personal narrative being interspersed throughout the book, the exploration is frustratingly superficial (in one chapter, Bargh briefly recounts how a chance encounter in a diner led to his eventual marriage, yet we learn nearly nothing about his future spouse. Please, John, if you’re going to share, share thoroughly!). As an accomplished psychologist and a significant researcher, insights into Bargh’s personal and professional life could be compelling in their own right, but such details are frustratingly limited—Bargh’s charisma shines through, yet akin to the research, there are insufficient details to truly satisfy.