Date of Award
2010
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Psychology
Abstract
Attitude ambivalence is the attitude actor's simultaneous possession of both negative and positive affect toward an attitude object. The competing affect produces tension, creating attitude ambivalence. In the present project, the attitude object is the United States of America. Students in Tunisia (a predominately Muslim nation) were asked specific questions about American foreign policy and American popular culture (n = 17). These two aspects of the `America' attitude object are expected to produce attitude ambivalence as the Tunisian students should express positive affect toward American popular culture and negative affect toward American foreign policy. A pencil and paper survey featuring several questions about specific foreign policy tenants (e.g. America's activities in the Middle East, America's diplomatic relationship with the Arab and Muslim world) and popular culture (e.g., attitudes about American movies, music, and television, the reconciliation of American values with the values of Islam in pop culture media). The study found that this demarcation of the `America' attitude object into foreign policy and popular culture is not one that produces ambivalence bur rather strong feelings about foreign policy and indifference toward popular culture. Two groups of American students, one group with presumed foreign policy knowledge (n = 26) and one without such knowledge (n=29) were also questioned to provide contrast.
Recommended Citation
Leverett, Jonya, "Affection, Anger, or Ambivalence? an Examination of Tunisian and Two Groups of American Students' Attitudes Toward American Politics and Popular Culture" (2010). Master's Theses. 537.
https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/537
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2010 Jonya Leverett
