Toward a definition of intolerance of uncertainty: A review of factor analytical studies of the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale

Birrell, Jane; Meares, Kevin; Wilkinson, Andrew; Freeston, Mark H.

doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2011.07.009

Cited by 330 publications

(295 citation statements)

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“…The AT concept has been applied in numerous related studies, such as the following areas of research: psychometrics (Furnham & Ribchester, 1995;McLain, 1993), situational perception and decision making (McLain, 2009;Yurtsever, 2001), sociological variables (Hofstede, 1984), anxiety (Birrell, Meares, Wilkinson, & Freeston, 2011;Ladouceur, Gosselin, & Dugas, 2000), correlational studies in curiosity (Litman, 2010), ethical norms (Weisbrod, 2009), openness (Bardi, Guerra, & Ramdeny, 2009;Caligiuri & Tarique, 2012;Rajagopal & Hamouz, 2009), cultural phenomena (Abbe et al, 2007;Caligiuri & Tarique, 2012;Tapanes, Smith, & White, 2009), decision making (Iyer, McBride, & Reckers, 2012), worry (Buhr & Dugas, 2006), safety competencies (Ironside, Jeffries, & Martin, 2009), identity conflict (Leong & Ward, 2000), thinking styles (Ie, Haller, Langer, & Courvoisier, 2012), financial performance (Westerberg, Singh, & Hackner, 1997), and novelty (Rajagopal & Hamouz, 2009) (for detailed reviews, see Furnham & Marks, 2013). AT has attracted considerable attention in research fields, and a considerable number of studies have explored various aspects of AT.…”

Section: Cognitive Style Of Atmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Study of Interactions among Ambiguity Tolerance, Classroom Work Styles, and English Proficiency

Chiang¹

2016

ELT

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This article presents a preliminary investigation of the inter-relationships between English learners' tolerance for ambiguity, their classroom work styles, and their level of English proficiency. The study population comprised 46 English as a foreign language (EFL) students attending a technical college in Taiwan. The findings indicated that a large percentage of these students had moderate to high levels of tolerance for ambiguity. In contrast to the findings of previous studies, our results showed no significant relationship between ambiguity tolerance and classroom work styles. The relationship between ambiguity tolerance and English proficiency in terms of the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) scores was almost statistically significant. However, tolerance for ambiguity and classroom work styles showed a statistically significant association with English proficiency. Recommended extensions of the study are discussed, and general directions for future research are suggested. Teaching implementations are also proposed.

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Section: Cognitive Style Of Atmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Study of Interactions among Ambiguity Tolerance, Classroom Work Styles, and English Proficiency

Chiang¹

2016

ELT

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“…1). While numerous studies have investigated links between IU and psychopathology (Birrell, Meares, Wilkinson & Freeston, 2011), its role in contributing to common maladaptive behaviours including checking, procrastination, avoidance and control has received relatively little attention.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive factors predicting checking, procrastination and other maladaptive behaviours: Prospective versus Inhibitory Intolerance of Uncertainty

Fourtounas

Thomas

2016

Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders

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Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) is a cognitive construct which is strongly linked to psychopathology, particularly anxiety and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. IU has also been proposed to be linked to maladaptive behaviours such as checking and procrastination in uncertain situations. Additionally, two subfactors of IU have recently been identified, Prospective IU (Desire for Predictability) and Inhibitory IU (Uncertainty Paralysis). These factors may differentially predict approach and avoidance behaviours respectively, however research is lacking. This study investigated associations between IU subfactors and selfreported maladaptive behaviours. University students (n=110; 74.3% female) completed self-report measures of behaviours including checking, procrastination, general avoidance and controlling behaviours. We hypothesised that Prospective IU would be associated with checking behaviours while Inhibitory IU would be associated with procrastination. Procrastination was predicted only by Inhibitory IU, however Checking was predicted equally by Inhibitory IU and Prospective IU. The results provide the first evidence of a differentiation between the two IU subfactors in predicting maladaptive behaviours. Uncertainty Paralysis may be an important cognitive factor reflecting tendencies to freeze during uncertainty, which predicts both checking and procrastination. Checking behaviours may be associated with additional unwillingness to leave outcomes to chance. This research provides new information about specific cognitive factors associated with checking and procrastination and other maladaptive behaviours, which could potentially be targeted in interventions. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 2 Highlights:Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) is a cognitive construct strongly linked to anxiety.We investigated its role in maladaptive behaviors including checking and procrastination.Two subcomponents of IU differentially predicted maladaptive behaviors.Procrastination was predicted only by Inhibitory IU.Checking behavior was predicted both by Inhibitory and Prospective IU.

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“…NCC describes the individual's desire to achieve closure in UNCERTAINTY AND IDENTITY 9 order to resolve situational uncertainty or to avoid closure and preserve ambiguity; as with IU and IA, this motivation is located along a continuum (Rosen et al, 2014). While these three constructs overlap, they also capture slightly different aspects of uncertainty-related cognition, affect, and behavior, and all may play an important role in understanding how individual designers interact with uncertainty in the design space.Strong empirical findings link high IU (and high IA to a lesser extent) with affective, cognitive, and behavioral outcomes such as clinically-significant anxiety and depression, increased stress, maladaptive coping, lower quality of life, avoidance of novel situations, information processing and recall biases (favoring absolutists interpretations and recall of uncertainty-marked information), diminished behavioral performance, and impulsive decisionmaking (Birrell, Meares, Wilkinson, & Freeston, 2011;Dugas et al, 2005;Erez & Nouri, 2010;Kornilova & Kornilov, 2010;Luhmann, Ishida, & Hajcak, 2011; Rosen et al, 2014). Some studies have also shown that a high tolerance for uncertainty is associated with greater creativity (Kornilova & Kornilov, 2010;Erez & Nouri, 2010).…”

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confidence: 99%

Uncertainty, reflection, and designer identity development

Tracey

Hutchinson

2016

Design Studies

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Uncertainty is a defining quality of the design space and it stands to reason that designers' personal attitudes toward uncertainty may influence design processes and outcomes via cognitive, affective, and/or behavioral channels. Individual attitudes and behavior patterns related to uncertainty may constitute a critical element of designer identity, which represents the synthesis of knowledge, action, and being. This qualitative study examined how graduate students in an instructional design course reflected on their experiences and beliefs regarding uncertainty.Participants were more reflective when discussing a general experience with uncertainty than their current attitudes toward uncertainty in design. Findings support the use of narrated reflection in design education related to uncertainty and identity. Implications for design education interventions and design are discussed.Keywords: professional identity; design education; design processes; reflective practice; design research Highlights:1. This study positions uncertainty orientation as an element of designer identity.2. The study examines reflection for identity development in relation to uncertainty.3. Participants achieved higher levels of reflection when discussing a general experience.4. Participants consistently failed to attend to emotional aspects of uncertainty.5. Some participants altered their uncertainty orientation when reconsidering the topic later. UNCERTAINTY AND IDENTITY 3Professional identity has been conceptualized as the synthesis of knowledge, action, and self, requiring not only the acquisition of expertise and skills but also professional ways of being (Dall'Alba, 2009; Tovey, Bull, & Osmund, 2010). From this perspective, students in professional education programs need to establish a sense of who they are becoming as a professional -and imagine who they might be -as the context for the development of the knowledge and behaviors that are manifested via the professional self (Dall'Alba, 2009). For design students, this means that foundational learning (i.e., what design is and what designers do, both in general and discipline-specific) should not be seen as an end in itself but should instead be used to facilitate the establishment of a preliminary and personal sense of what it means to be a designer. For design educators, this raises provocative questions: What designerly ways of being might be most useful for the initial cultivation of designer selves? And what instructional strategies and experiences might be effective in giving students the space and resources to explore these ways of being in service of identity development?As part of a long-term, design-based research project on design education, reflection, and professional identity, this study seeks to address these questions and contribute to emerging discourse on identity development in design by examining how graduate students in instructional design explored experiences with uncertainty using reflective writing. As a ground for our findings, we will first discus...

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Toward a definition of intolerance of uncertainty: A review of factor analytical studies of the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale

Cited by 330 publications

References 43 publications

A Study of Interactions among Ambiguity Tolerance, Classroom Work Styles, and English Proficiency

A Study of Interactions among Ambiguity Tolerance, Classroom Work Styles, and English Proficiency

Cognitive factors predicting checking, procrastination and other maladaptive behaviours: Prospective versus Inhibitory Intolerance of Uncertainty

Uncertainty, reflection, and designer identity development

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