Experienced ambivalence as a moderator of the consistency between attitudes and behaviors

Two studies were conducted to test the hypothesis that stronger degrees of ambivalence attenuate the attitude-behavior correspondence. We also tested the hypothesis that the weaker attitude-behavior correspondence at higher l evels of ambivalence may be due to the lower temporal stability of highly a mbivalent attitudes. To ensure that these hypotheses be adequately tested, both studies had a prospective design. After assessing their attitudes towa rd certain behaviors and ambivalence, participants recorded how often they performed these behaviors during the subsequent 14-day period. The investig ated behaviors included everyday behaviors such as consuming fast food, pre paring classes, and watching entertaining programs on TV. To assess attitud inal stability, attitudes were measured again after the 14-day period. As t he results show the expected moderating effect of experienced ambivalence o n the attitude-behavior correspondence was obtained, however, only for a mi nority of the investigated behaviors. As predicted, experienced ambivalence was related to decreased attitudinal stability in each of these cases. A m eta-analytic summary of the two studies revealed that, across different beh aviors, a weak but reliable moderating effect of ambivalence on attitude st ability and the correspondence between attitudes and behaviors exists.