Journey 7 · Uncertainty
The Trait Researchers Call Intolerance of Uncertainty
People who find not-knowing hard to bear tend to worry more; researchers now measure this as a trait, and everyone sits somewhere on it.
In 1994, Mark Freeston, Michel Dugas and colleagues published a paper titled "Why do people worry?" In their study, people who found not-knowing harder to bear also reported more worry (Freeston et al., 1994). Intolerance of uncertainty has since become one of the most studied ideas in anxiety research, with validated scales to measure it.
Pooling many studies, a 2011 meta-analysis found it moderately to strongly linked with worry and anxiety, low mood and obsessive-compulsive tendencies alike (Gentes & Ruscio, 2011). Both findings are correlations, so they don't show which causes which, and intolerance of uncertainty is one piece of the picture, not the only one. A high score isn't a verdict on you: it is a dial everyone sits somewhere on.
In Journey 7, Uncertainty, guided by Tawa, you learn to name this pattern. Named as a trait, 'the unknown is dangerous' can start to look less like a fact about the world and more like a pattern you can work with. Where would you put yourself on that dial?
The research
Strong evidence Replicated findings and meta-analyses.
- Freeston, M. H., Rhéaume, J., Letarte, H., Dugas, M. J., & Ladouceur, R. (1994). Why do people worry? Personality and Individual Differences, 17(6), 791–802.
- Gentes, E. L., & Ruscio, A. M. (2011). A meta-analysis of the relation of intolerance of uncertainty to symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, and obsessive–compulsive disorder. Clinical Psychology Review, 31(6), 923–933.
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