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Abstract. We suggest that there is an association in people's minds between the vertical position of a stimulus (up vs. down) and its construal level (high vs. low), which results in bi-directional effects between the dimensions. In Study 1, participants exhibited both implicit and explicit associations between the dimensions. Studies 2 and 3 demonstrated that stimulus construal level affects its vertical position, with participants showing a preference for positioning abstract concepts higher up and concrete concepts lower down. Study 4 testified to the effect of vertical positioning of information on its level of construal. Behaviors presented at the top of a display (more than those presented at the bottom) were construed in terms of why they are performed rather than how to perform them. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

In the week before the 2008 United States presidential election, 1,057 registered voters reported their choice between the principal contenders (John McCain and Barack Obama) and completed several measures that might predict their candidate preference, including two implicit and two self‐report measures of racial preference for European Americans (Whites) relative to African Americans (Blacks) and measures of symbolic racism and political conservatism. Greater White preference on each of the four race attitude measures predicted intention to vote for McCain, the White candidate. The implicit race attitude measures (Implicit Association Test and Affect Misattribution Procedure) predicted vote choice independently of the self‐report race attitude measures, and also independently of political conservatism and symbolic racism. These findings support construct validity of the implicit measures.