ReportsAmbivalence and decisional conflict as a cause of psychological discomfort: Feeling tense before jumping off the fence
Section snippets
Study 1
Our aim is to examine whether ambivalence is particularly stressful when an attitude relevant choice has to be made. In order to address this question, we experimentally manipulate ambivalence and assess participants’ Skin Conductance Level (SCL) as a measure of physiological arousal.
The attitude object was the potential introduction of a new labor law in The Netherlands, similar to the one that caused turmoil in France during the first months of 2006. This law would make it easier for
Study 2
In this study we aim to replicate and extend the findings of Study 1. In the present study, we also assess experienced uncertainty regarding the consequences of the choice. We expect that levels of uncertainty would show a pattern similar to that of the SCL increase in Study 1. It is also expected that uncertainty mediates the impact of the experimental manipulation on SCL.
Study 3
In this last study we orthogonally manipulate ambivalence and choice, concerning a new attitude object: the potential introduction of an ‘energy tax’. We expect discomfort to be most pronounced when ambivalence is high and a choice has to be made. To establish the valence of the ambivalence-induced arousal we found earlier, we now assess discomfort using self-report measures of affect.
General discussion
In research on attitudes it has long been assumed that ambivalence is unpleasant because people have a general preference for consistency. The current studies show that this is indeed the case, but particularly when the ambivalence can no longer remain non-committal and one has to choose between the two conflicting cognitions. When there is no need to choose, and one can hold on to the status quo, ambivalence is not more stressful than holding a univalent attitude. For example, if someone feels
References (22)
- et al.
A new look at dissonance theory
- et al.
Mistreatment of an esteemed other as a consequence affecting dissonance reduction
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
(1974) - et al.
Positive and negative associations underlying ambivalent attitudes
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
(2007) - et al.
Effects of attitudinal ambivalence on information processing and attitude-intention consistency
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
(1997) - et al.
Ambivalence and persuasion: The processing of messages about immigrant groups
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
(1996) - et al.
Ambivalence, discomfort, and motivated information processing
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
(2006) Standardization within individuals: A simple method to neutralize individual differences in skin conductance
Psychophysiology
(1985)- et al.
Heuristic and systematic processing within and beyond the persuasion context
- et al.
Role of undesired consequences in arousing cognitive dissonance
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
(1970) - et al.
Dissonance arousal: Physiological evidence
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
(1983)
On the motivational nature of cognitive dissonance: Dissonance as psychological discomfort
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Cited by (129)
Two sides of the same fence: A model of the origins and consequences of meat-related conflict in omnivores and veg*ans
2024, Journal of Environmental PsychologyHow people perceive dispositionally (non-) ambivalent others and why it matters
2023, Journal of Experimental Social PsychologyConsumer attitude toward nonconventional breeding
2023, Developing Sustainable and Health-Promoting Cereals and Pseudocereals: Conventional and Molecular BreedingTorn but balanced: Trait ambivalence is negatively related to confirmation
2022, Personality and Individual DifferencesCitation Excerpt :Possibly ambivalence leads to more biased information processing when the ambivalent attitude towards the issue at hand translates into the metacognitive awareness of feeling conflicted (i.e., subjective ambivalence; van Harreveld et al., 2015). When this subjective experience of the ambivalent attitude is accompanied by negative affect, people become motivated to quickly resolve their ambivalent attitude (Van Harreveld, Rutjens, et al., 2009) – likely by engaging in biased information processing (Clark et al., 2008). The present work can serve as a jumping-off point for future research looking to directly explore why ambivalence has positive effects.
A Systematic Study of Ambivalence and Well-Being in Romantic Relationships
2024, Social Psychological and Personality ScienceExperiencing the Conflict: The Rationality of Ambivalence
2024, Journal of Value Inquiry