Conservatism and attitudinal ambivalence: Investigating conflicting findings

Sargent, Rikki H.; Newman, Leonard S.

doi:10.1016/j.paid.2020.109996

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…We cannot definitively rule out the possibility that our findings would fail to generalize to broader samples of liberals and conservatives. In related research, however, Sargent and Newman (in press) recruited an MTurk sample using the same procedures used in the current studies and replicated past findings of a positive relationship between conservatism and intolerance of ambiguity and a negative correlation between conservatism and the Big Five trait of Openness. Our ability to replicate previous findings on the psychological correlates of political ideology renders less likely the possibility that our findings for attitudinal ambivalence were anomalous.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Liberals Report Lower Levels of Attitudinal Ambivalence Than Conservatives

Newman

Sargent

2020

Social Psychological and Personality Science

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Political conservatism has been shown to be positively correlated with intolerance of ambiguity, need for closure, and dogmatism and negatively correlated with openness to new experiences and uncertainty tolerance. Those findings suggest that conservatism should also be negatively correlated with attitudinal ambivalence; by definition, ambivalent attitudes are more complex and more tinged with uncertainty than univalent attitudes. However, little published research addresses this issue. The results of five studies (total N = 1,049 participants) reveal instead that political liberalism is negatively associated with ambivalence. This finding held for both subjective and potential (i.e., formula-based) measures of ambivalence and for both politicized and nonpoliticized attitude objects. Conservatives may prefer uncomplicated and consistent ways of thinking and feeling, but that preference might not necessarily be reflected in the actual consistency of their mental representations. Possible accounts for these findings are discussed.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Liberals Report Lower Levels of Attitudinal Ambivalence Than Conservatives

Newman

Sargent

2020

Social Psychological and Personality Science

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“…In line with our hypotheses, we were able to demonstrate construct validity of the MAQ (Boateng et al, 2018): The MAQ allowed us to differentiate between known groups, as we found the expected differences in meat-related ambivalence between omnivores and vegetarians (Study 1 & 2). In addition, the MAQ was associated more strongly with felt than potential ambivalence (Study 1-3) while the correlations between the MAQ and potential ambivalence were comparable to correlations between traditional measures of felt and potential ambivalence in other studies (e.g., Pauer et al, 2022;Sargent & Newman, 2021). The MAQ was more strongly associated with ambivalence toward specific meat dishes than towards plant-based dishes or inanimate objects (Study 3 & 4).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 53%

The Meat Ambivalence Questionnaire: Assessing Domain-Specific Meat-Related Conflict in Omnivores and Veg*ans

Buttlar¹,

Pauer²,

Ruby³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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People are increasingly concerned about how meat affects the environment, human health, and animal welfare; yet eating and enjoying meat remains a norm. Unsurprisingly, many people are ambivalent about meat—evaluating it as both positive and negative. Here, we propose that meat-related conflict is multidimensional and depends on people’s dietary group: Omnivores’ felt ambivalence arises from multiple negative associations that oppose a predominantly positive attitude towards meat, and veg*ans’ ambivalence arises from various positive associations that oppose a predominantly negative attitude. A qualitative study (N = 235; German) revealed that omnivores and veg*ans experience meat-related ambivalence due to associations with animals, sociability, sustainability, health, and sensory experiences. To quantify felt ambivalence in these domains, we developed the Meat Ambivalence Questionnaire (MAQ). We validated the MAQ in four pre-registered studies using self-report and behavioral data (N = 3,485; German, UK, representative US). Both omnivores and veg*ans reported meat-related ambivalence but with differences across domains and their consequences for meat consumption. Specifically, ambivalence was associated with less meat consumption in omnivores (especially sensory-/animal-based ambivalence) and more meat consumption in veg*ans (especially sensory-/socially-based ambivalence). Network analyses shed further light on the nomological net of the MAQ while controlling for a comprehensive set of determinants of meat consumption. By introducing the MAQ, we hope to provide researchers with a tool to better understand how ambivalence accompanies behavior change and maintenance.

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“…For example, a review of the conservatism literature highlights clearer differences in threat sensitivity between liberals and conservatives in response to physical, but not symbolic (meaning and value of identity), threats (Crawford, 2017); yet, Bakker et al (2020) did not find any significant differences in physiological reactions to physical threats (e.g., picture of a spider on a person’s face, picture of a person with a bloody face). Although it appears that conservatives may be more averse to some types of uncertainty and to threat in general, they also report greater ambivalence toward several kinds of attitude objects compared to liberals, which arguably contradicts the tight theoretical link between conservatism and clusters of uncertainty intolerance constructs (Newman & Sargent, 2021; Sargent & Newman, 2021). The empirical work on the relationship between threats, uncertainty, and conservatism has several broad operationalizations of threat and uncertainty.…”

Section: Motivational Underpinnings Of Political Ideologymentioning

confidence: 86%

Self-uncertainty and conservatism during the COVID-19 pandemic predict perceived threat and engagement in risky social behaviors

Syfers,

Jaurique,

Anjewierden

et al. 2023

Group Processes & Intergroup Relations

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Two studies ( N = 676) highlight the nuanced relationship between conservatism and adherence to COVID-19 policy and recommendations intended to slow the spread of the pandemic in the United States. Study 1 provided evidence that conservative Americans who felt uncertain about themselves and the future experienced elevated levels of symbolic threat (attacks to sociopolitical identity; e.g., the pandemic threatening American democracy) and realistic threat (concrete attacks to material resources or well-being; e.g., the pandemic threatening physical health) in comparison to their more certain counterparts. In Study 2, the association between this form of uncertainty and frequency of risky social behaviors (behaviors that increase the risk of virus transmission) was partially mediated by threat perception for Americans both low and high in conservatism. We discuss findings as an integration of the motivated social cognition framework and uncertainty-identity theory. While self-uncertainty was more associated with greater overall COVID-19 threat perception for Americans high (vs. low) in conservatism, threat perception and frequency of risky social behaviors were associated with self-uncertainty in a manner that is consistent with prevailing liberal and conservative norms.

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Conservatism and attitudinal ambivalence: Investigating conflicting findings

Cited by 7 publications

References 24 publications

Liberals Report Lower Levels of Attitudinal Ambivalence Than Conservatives

Liberals Report Lower Levels of Attitudinal Ambivalence Than Conservatives

The Meat Ambivalence Questionnaire: Assessing Domain-Specific Meat-Related Conflict in Omnivores and Veg*ans

Self-uncertainty and conservatism during the COVID-19 pandemic predict perceived threat and engagement in risky social behaviors

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