Ambivalence and Response Amplification: A Motivational Perspective

This research examined the relationship between the measured (Study 1) and manipulated (Studies 2 and 3) positive and negative bases of attitudes and the psychological experience of attitudinal ambivalence. On the basis of these studies, the gradual threshold model of ambivalence (GTM) was advanced. The GTM holds that: (a) ambivalence increases in a negatively accelerating manner as the number of conflicting reactions (whichever of the positive or negative reactions are fewer in number) increases, (b) ambivalence is a negative function of the extent of dominant reactions, and (c) as the number of conflicting reactions increases, the impact of dominant reactions on ambivalence gradually decreases such that at some level of conflicting reactions (i.e, the threshold), the number of dominant reactions no longer has an impact on subjective ambivalence.