The effect of information on EU support and attitude ambivalence

The ambivalence of EU citizens towards the European integration project is an attitude dimension which has largely been neglected, but promises to answer important puzzles. In this paper I measure ambivalence in individual level support for the EU based on how respondents answer two items on the EU. I show empirical support for that more self-assessed and more objective knowledge on the EU decrease ambivalence in EU support. This effect persists among highly educated people, which is taken as evidence that the dependent variable measures ambivalence instead of how nuanced people's attitudes are. I also show that a strong attachment to both one's country and the EU ("a dual identity") decreases ambivalence. The relationships are confirmed when tested by using a heteroskedastic regression in which ambivalence is understood as response variation. A final analysis reveals that standard predictors (economic rationality, identity, political cues) explain attitudes towards the EU much more for unambivalent Europeans than for ambivalent ones.