The moderation of ambivalence on attitude-intention relations as mediated by attitude importance

Attitudinal ambivalence has been found to moderate attitude–intention relations. However, no prior
work has investigated the mechanisms by which this moderation effect occurs. The present research
attempted to address this issue. Across two studies, there was evidence that an Ambivalence Attitude
interaction was mediated through judgements about attitude importance. Additionally, the present
research ruled out the possibility that attitude certainty, a factor that is often found to be positively
related to attitude importance, was not responsible for the observed mediating effects of this latter
variable. While replicating previous evidence supporting the moderating properties of ambivalence on
attitude–intention relations, the current research sheds light on the critical role that attitude
importance plays in this relationship.