Angular UI Select2, why does ng-model get set as JSON string?

You need to use ng-options on your select if you want to have object values. Actually creating the options yourself using an ng-repeat will only allow you to have string values for the various options:

<select ui-select2    ng-model="adminModel.selectedType"    ng-change="roleTypeChanged()"    data-placeholder="Select Role Type" ng-options="type.displayName for type in adminModel.roleTypes">  <option value=""></option></select>

http://plnkr.co/edit/UydBai3Iy9GQg6KphhN5?p=preview

Thanks Karl!I have struggled a day with this

as a note for others having similar problems as I did, when using an ng-model not accessible and defined in the controller/directive I solved it like this.

//country.Model has Code and Name nodes

* HTML *

 <select name="country" data-ng-model="country.Model"      data-ui-select2=""      data-ng-change="countryChanged(country.Model)"  <!--only for test, log to console-->    data-ng-options="country as CodeAndName(country) for country in countries"    data-placeholder="{{placeholderText(country.Model, '- - Select Country - -')}}" >    <option value=""></option></select>  

* JS *

 function controller($scope, $q, $location, $routeParams) {    $scope.countryChanged = function(item) { // for test                      console.log('selectedType is: ', item);    };    //returns the item or the text if no item is selected    $scope.placeholderText = function (item, text){         if (item == undefined)            return text;        return $scope.CodeAndName(item);    };    // returns a string for code and name of the item, used to set the placeholder text    $scope.CodeAndName = function (item) {         if (item == undefined)            return '';        return item.Code + ' - ' + item.Name;    };