Intolerance of Uncertainty or IU is an actual thing. It is a construct in the anxiety empirical literature that has been studied extensively. IU is considered to be “transdiagnostic,” meaning that it is seen across a wide range of mental health disorders. However, it is most commonly experienced by those with generalized anxiety because of its high association with worry. Worry is a key characteristic of people with more generalized type of anxiety.
So, what does IU look like?
People with high levels of IU find uncertain future events as threatening, upsetting and undesirable. There are 3 components of IU:
1. Positive beliefs about worry: They believe that worry is a useful strategy and helps them increase certainty. Note- it is not as useful as one might think. It actually INCREASES uncertainty- the more one worries, the more one finds new things to be uncertain about.
2. Negative problem orientation: They may feel helpless, view problems as threatening and doubt their ability to solve these potential problems. Note- people with high levels of IU tend to underestimate their ability to cope. In other words, if given the chance, they often find that they are much better at solving problems than they gave themselves credit for (CBT therapists use behavioral experiments to help clients realize this!)
3. Cognitive or emotional avoidance: They avoid thinking about their problems. Note- research shows that avoidance might reduce anxiety in the short-term but increases anxiety over the long-term. People with high levels of IU engage in a variety of problematic behaviors to control or avoid uncertainty.
Researchers have made a list of common types of behaviors that people with high IU engage in.1 Do any of the behavioral manifestations below resonate with you?
- Looking for lots of information before making a decision-or looking for none
- Scanning for uncertainty- the uncertainty radar-or avoiding it
- Avoiding committing to social events, tasks, activities, points of view, etc. because commitment means being certain
- Avoiding particular people or types of people, or social occasions because it is unclear how the person will act or how the situation will unfold
- Procastination-putting things off
- Looking for/seeking reassurance-avoiding taking responsibility
- Overprotecting others- avoiding giving others responsibility
- Failing to delegate- avoiding giving others responsibility
- Using a 'smoke screen'- a kind of cognitive avoidance where we think about anything else but the uncertain situation
- Checking and re-checking- to avoid mistakes
- Indulging in 'post-mortem' worry- analyzing what happened
- Making hasty decisions or making slow decisions-using the sense of uncertainty as a cue rather than the information available
- Wearing the same type of clothes, eating the same food, going to the same restaurant, buying music you already have heard, etc.- to reduce dealing with the uncertainty involved in choosing
- Keeping to routines-the known path
- Avoiding surprises- the quiet life
- Over-planning: making schedules, detailed lists, back-up plans- the 'belt and braces' approach to life
- Avoiding saying what you think- because you may not know everything there is to know
- Following others' opinions- relying on reviews, guidebooks, 'how to' books, etc.
- Drinking alcohol/taking drugs- taking the edge off anxiety and worry
- Distraction-pretending uncertainty is not there
- Depending on others- or independence from others. In both cases, uncertainty is reduced
Curious if you have high levels of IU? The IU scale is an empirically supported measure to assess this (Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale). There is no “cut-off score” but research shows that those with Generalized Anxiety Disorder tend to score 87 or above.1
References
1Wilkinson, A., Meares, K., & Freeston, M. (2011). Key interventions 2 – recognising and overcoming intolerance of uncertainty. (pp. 51). London: SAGE Publications Ltd. doi:10.4135/9781446289105.n5