Antecedents and consequences of attitudinal ambivalence

Antecedents and consequences of candidate ambivalence are studied at the example of the 2013 German federal election. Applying a different ambivalence measure than previous German surveys, a rather high level of ambivalence is demonstrated. Despite synthesizing previous theoretical approaches, the individual-specific antecedents of ambivalence remain ill-understood. Future research should instead focus on temporal, contextual, or object-specific aspects. Individual ambivalence about a candidate affects the evaluation of this person and the voting decision. First, ambivalence reduces the extremity of candidate evaluation. Second, persons with ambivalent attitudes are more likely not to prefer any of the two chancellor candidates.