Abstract

The research is focused on the analysis of the emotional ambivalence as a feature of the attitudes citizens hold towards political objects. A representative sample of Italians over the age of 18 answered a questionnaire. Results show that the emotional ambivalence is not characteristic of the peripheral individuals from a socio-demographic point of view (e.g. elders, women, people with low level of education), from a political point of view (people who do not express a political orientation), and from a psycho-social point of view (people who are not motivated and skilled regarding politics). Ambivalence, moreover, was found to attenuate the difference between evaluation of the own political part and that of the opposite one and hinders the perception of a threat represented by the adversary.