Abstract

Traditionally, positive and negative attitudes are conceptualized as falling on the opposite sides of an uni-dimensional evaluation scale. In other words, they are conceived as mutually exclusive aspects of the evaluation processes. Recently, however, a few relevant studies on this issue suggested that positive or negative attitudes are independently determined by the dual-dimensional evaluation processes. In the present paper, I argue that the nature of one's perspective determines whether an individual adopts an uni-dimensional evaluation process or a dual-dimensional one. When one's perspective is narrowly restrained, one's attitude is determined by an uni-dimensional evaluation process. In contrast, when one takes on an expanded perspective, he or she adopts a dual-dimensional evaluation process in determining his/her attitudes. The expansion of perspective also change the focal dimension of the evaluation process: from favorableness judgment to informative description. A critical review of relevant studies supports the argument.