Torn but balanced: Trait ambivalence is negatively related to confirmation

Abstract

Traditionally, ambivalence has been conceptualized as a negative influence on decision-making (Van Harreveld et al., 2009). Challenging this notion, recent work suggests that ambivalence can be beneficial because it promotes balance in the decision-making process (Rees et al., 2013; Schneider et al., 2021). Specifically, since ambivalence is a state where contrasting sides of an attitude object (i.e., both positive and negative evaluations) are salient, it likely leads to the consideration of more diverse information, thus reducing one-sided thought. However, this research has only focused on state ambivalence. We investigated whether trait ambivalence – the individual tendency to experience ambivalence – is also related to reduced bias in thought. We examined this idea in the domain of confirmation - the tendency to prefer information in accord with one's preexisting beliefs or hypotheses while neglecting information that is not (Klayman & Ha, 1987). Using different methods, we examined the relationship between trait ambivalence and confirmation. We present five online studies (total N = 1306) that showed that people with higher trait ambivalence showed less confirmation. This pattern was corroborated by meta-analytic evidence. Together, our work provides evidence that decision-making can benefit from trait ambivalence as it is connected to more disconfirmation.