Metacognitive Model of Ambivalence: The Role of Multiple Beliefs and Metacognitions in Creating Attitude Ambivalence

Although research suggests political ambivalence prevails in the American public, little attention has been paid to the mechanisms through which a person's attitude structure and relevant antecedents interact to create ambivalence. This article aims to summarize and synthesize the results of existing studies on ambivalence in order to construct a coherent theoretical framework to explain various ambivalence phenomena identified across the social sciences. First, relevant studies and conceptualizations of ambivalence are reviewed. Next, drawing from the metacognitive model and belief accessibility, potential relations and mechanisms are presented wherein multiple beliefs and metacognitions are related to the attitude object to create ambivalence. Last, the theoretical contributions and implications of the proposed model are discussed.