Effects of evaluative (in-)consistency and perceived self-efficacy on attitude formation

In accordance with dual-process theories of attitude change, we predict tha t attitude judgements about unfamiliar objects are affected by the evaluati ve inconsistency of relevant attributes. Drawing upon self-efficacy theory, we further predict that individuals' perceived self-efficacy moderates the effect of inconsistency on attitude latencies: Individuals with high perce ived self-efficacy in regard to systematic processing are expected to persi st in their judgmental process and to show deliberative processing when inf ormation is inconsistent but not when it is consistently positive or consis tently negative. Evaluatively consistent information should lead to an elim ination of or even a reversal of this difference between high- and low-effi cacy individuals. The results of two experiments are supportive of these hy potheses.