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Ambivalence and decisional conflict as a cause of psychological discomfort: feeling tense before jumping off the fence

[journal article]

Harreveld, Frenk van
Rutjens, Bastiaan T.
Rotteveel, Mark
Nordgren, Loran F.
Pligt, Joop van der

Abstract

"It has long been assumed that people experience evaluative conflict or ambivalence as unpleasant. In three studies we provide direct evidence for the assumption that ambivalence is unpleasant, but only when one has to commit to one side of the issue. In those situations ambivalence will be related ... view more

"It has long been assumed that people experience evaluative conflict or ambivalence as unpleasant. In three studies we provide direct evidence for the assumption that ambivalence is unpleasant, but only when one has to commit to one side of the issue. In those situations ambivalence will be related to outcome uncertainty and feelings of discomfort. We examined this prediction using both self-reports and physiological measures. In a first study we manipulated ambivalence and whether or not participants had to take a clear stand vis-a vis the attitudinal issue and choose a position for or against it. Results indicate ambivalence was only related to physiological arousal when a choice had to be made. Feeling ambivalent about an issue without the necessity to choose did not result in higher levels of arousal. A second study replicated and extended these findings by including a measure of subjective uncertainty about the decision. Results showed the same pattern as in Study 1, and indicate that the relation between ambivalence and arousal is mediated by uncertainty about decisional outcomes. In the third and final study these findings are corroborated using self-report measures; these indicated that ambivalence-induced discomfort is related to specific (negative) emotions." [author's abstract]... view less

Classification
Social Psychology

Free Keywords
Ambivalence; Discomfort; Arousal; Choice; Judgment; Uncertainty; Attitudes; Dissonance

Document language
English

Publication Year
2008

Page/Pages
p. 167-173

Journal
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45 (2008) 1

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2008.08.015

Status
Postprint; peer reviewed

Licence
PEER Licence Agreement (applicable only to documents from PEER project)


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© 2007 - 2025 Social Science Open Access Repository (SSOAR).
Based on DSpace, Copyright (c) 2002-2022, DuraSpace. All rights reserved.