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The Politics of Choice: Political Ideology and Intolerance of Ambiguity
Author(s) -
Farmer Adam,
Kidwell Blair,
Hardesty David M.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of consumer psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.433
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1532-7663
pISSN - 1057-7408
DOI - 10.1002/jcpy.1176
Subject(s) - ambiguity , ideology , preference , politics , positive economics , ambiguity tolerance , economics , psychology , social psychology , public economics , microeconomics , political science , law , philosophy , linguistics
The authors examine how political ideology impacts consumer preferences for hedonic and utilitarian choices and the underlying reasons for these differences. Five studies indicate that conservatives are less tolerant of ambiguity than liberals, leading to a preference for utilitarian options, whereas liberals are more tolerant of ambiguity leading to a preference for hedonic options. However, these preferences were reversed when utilitarian options were framed as ambiguous and hedonic options were framed as explicit and clear.