关键词: 矛盾态度, 结果效价, 决策困难水平, 不确定性, 自我评价

Abstract:

Ambivalent attitudes influence not only information search, attitude formation, and decision-making behavior but also self-evaluation after decision-making. Although the existing studies demonstrate that ambivalent attitudes exert an impact on the cited aspects, their impact on post-decision psychology (i.e., self-evaluation) remains unknown. To address this concern, the current study constructs a two-stage moderation model of ambivalence and self-evaluation based on outcome valence and difficulty in decision-making.
The objective of this pilot study is to select the best method for measuring ambivalent attitudes and test the very changes in ambivalent attitudes in the process of decision-making. We use a camera as an experimental material and manipulate ambivalent attitudes through positive and negative evaluations of the attribute characteristics of the camera. The purpose of Experiment 1 is to verify the main effect of ambivalent attitudes on self-evaluation and the influence of the levels of difficulty of decision-making and outcome valence on ambivalent attitudes and self-evaluation. This experiment is an inter-subject experiment. Experiment 2 uses different experimental materials and employs choices of enterprises as an experimental situation. The procedure for Experiment 2 is the same as that for Experiment 1.
Lastly, the purpose of Experiment 3 is to verify the mediating effect of uncertainty. Furthermore, the study supplements the measurement of uncertainty. Experiment 3 uses the same scenario and procedure as those in Experiment 1. The results of the pilot study indicate the absence of significant differences between objective contradictions before and after decision-making. However, subjective contradiction is significantly reduced after decision-making. The results of Experiment 1 suggest that ambivalent attitudes exerted positive effects on self-evaluation and that difficulty in decision-making and outcome valence influenced ambivalent attitudes and self-evaluation. Experiment 2 verified the results of Experiment 1. In Experiment 3, the study noted the effect of ambivalent attitudes and the difficulty of decision-making and the effect of separation on uncertainty. When faced with negative results, high levels of difficulty in decision-making and ambivalent attitudes exerted positive impacts on self-evaluation through uncertainty compared with low levels of difficulty in decision-making. In contrast, when obtaining positive results, low levels of difficulty in decision-making and ambivalent attitudes exerted positive impacts on self-evaluation through uncertainty compared with high levels of difficulty in decision-making.
In summary, the three experiments confirmed the positive effect of ambivalent attitudes on self-evaluation, whereas outcome valence and decision difficulty moderated this relationship. When individuals faced negative results, high levels of difficulty in decision-making led to the greater effects of ambivalent attitudes on post-decision self-evaluation. In contrast, individuals with high levels of difficulty in decision-making experience the negative effects of ambivalent attitudes on post-decision self-evaluation. For low levels of difficulty in decision-making, the positive effect of ambivalence remained significant. Furthermore, the study concludes that ambivalent attitudes and difficulty in decision-making influenced uncertainty, whereas uncertainty and outcome valence influenced self-evaluation. Ambivalent attitude and difficulty in decision-making exerted a conflicting effect on self-evaluation due to the dampening effect of uncertainty. Thus, this study supplemented the lack of research on the effect of ambivalent attitudes on psychological feelings and broadened the boundaries of ambivalent attitudes as a self-protection strategy.

Key words: ambivalent attitudes, outcome valence, decision difficulty, uncertainty, self-evaluation