WHY THINGS GROW ON US

The more you see it,
the more you like it.

Familiar things tend to feel nicer.

Psychologists call it the mere-exposure effect: simply meeting something again and again can make us like it more, even when nothing else about it changes. It shows up with pictures, melodies, faces and food, though not without limits.

AGAIN and again

Try the examples

A pale wall hung with a row of four framed abstract prints of soft overlapping circles, lit by daylight — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

Repetition breeds liking
Up to a point
Taste can be learned
How familiarity shapes what we like

THE SHORT ANSWER

Repeat it,
and it grows on you.

The effect is real but it has a shape.
Liking rises with exposure, then can level off or fall.

SIGHT

Pictures and shapes

A 2017 review of 268 curves from 81 articles found liking rose with repeated exposure and then dipped: an inverted U, seen with all visual stimuli.

See the numbers

TASTE

Vegetables, day by day

In a randomised trial, toddlers given a taste of a disliked vegetable every day for 14 days liked and ate more of it than children whose parents got advice alone.

Try it at home

SOUND

Tunes heard most

In a brain-scanning study, the melodies people had heard most often were the ones they liked most, which researchers linked to memory processes.

Try the examples

WHAT THE STUDIES FOUND

Does it grow
on you?

Pick something people meet again and again to see what research found. The bar shows how clearly repetition raised liking in those studies.

Exposure check

Choose an exampleA disliked vegetableA new melodyA picture or shapeYour own face

A disliked vegetableLiked more

Daily tastes for 14 days raised liking, ranking and eating of the target vegetable more than nutrition advice or no intervention.

A new melodyLiked more

Melodies heard most often were the most liked. People also recognised them better.

A picture or shapeUp, then down

For visual stimuli, the 2017 review found an inverted U: liking climbs with exposure, then can fall with many more repeats.

Your own faceMirror wins

Adults tend to prefer the mirror image of their own face, probably the version they see most, but the true image of familiar people. Children show this by age 5 to 7.

Sources: Montoya et al. (2017) Psychological Bulletin; Wardle et al. (2003) Appetite; Green et al. (2012) Neurology Research International; Amestoy et al. (2010) Frontiers in Psychology.

Summaries of the published studies listed in the sources. General information, not advice for any individual child.

TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING

Well studied,
and testable at home.

One figure on how much research there is,
one on how long it took to change a toddler's mind.

81

Articles in the meta-analysis of repeated exposure

The review drew 268 curve estimates from 81 articles and found a positive slope with a downturn: an inverted-U shaped curve.

REVIEW · MONTOYA ET AL. 2017

14 days

Days of daily tastes in the vegetable trial

156 parents of 2 to 6 year olds took part. Only the daily-taste group showed significant increases in liking, ranking and eating the vegetable.

TRIAL · WARDLE ET AL. 2003

The review found the inverted U for all visual stimuli but not for auditory ones, and concluded that existing models of the effect do not fully explain the findings.

FOUR WAYS TO USE IT

Small, repeated,
no pressure.

The NHS advice on fussy eating fits the research: keep offering, stay calm and let familiarity do the work.

Offer a little, often
In the trial, a small daily taste of the same vegetable for two weeks made the difference.
Go back to old refusals
The NHS says to keep returning to foods a child did not like before, because children's tastes change.
Do not force it
If food is rejected, the NHS suggests taking it away without comment and trying again another time.
Eat together
Children learn to enjoy new foods by copying, so the NHS suggests eating with them as often as you can.

A pair of headphones resting on the arm of a worn mustard armchair by a window — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

A small child's hand picking up a floret of steamed broccoli from a white bowl on a kitchen table — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

WHY IT HAPPENS

Memory may be
part of the story.

One explanation is memory: in the music study, brain areas linked to retrieval and working memory were active according to how often a melody had been heard, even though people were only asked how much they liked it.

The 2017 review found the effect depends on details such as how long each exposure lasts and when ratings are taken, and called for new models. Familiar does not always mean favourite, but it often gives things a head start.

Questions

Questions people ask

What is the mere-exposure effect?

It is the finding that repeated exposure to something, such as a picture, a tune or a food, tends to increase how much people like it, even without any other reason to.

Does it go on forever?

No. A 2017 meta-analysis of 81 articles found an inverted-U pattern: liking rises with repeated exposure and can then fall. This was clearest for visual stimuli.

Can it help a child try vegetables?

In a randomised trial with 2 to 6 year olds, a daily taste of a disliked vegetable for 14 days increased liking and eating more than advice alone. The NHS also suggests offering foods again calmly.

Why do I prefer my face in the mirror?

Probably because that is the version you see most. A study found adults prefer the mirror image of their own face but the true image of familiar faces, with the pattern emerging by around age 5 to 7.

Does it work for music?

In one brain-imaging study, the melodies people heard most often were the ones they liked most. The 2017 review did not find the inverted-U pattern for sounds, only for visual stimuli.

The more you see it,
the more you like it.