Tolerance of ambiguity: how you react when there is no clear answer

A doctor says your test result is probably nothing, but asks you to come back in three months to check again. Some people go home and forget about it. Others spend the three months reading forums. The facts are the same for both, and the reaction to not knowing is very different.

Where the idea comes from

In 1949 the psychologist Else Frenkel-Brunswik described intolerance of ambiguity as a personality trait. In her studies, some people preferred quick, black-and-white judgements and felt uneasy with anything that could be read in more than one way.

In 1962 Stanley Budner defined it more precisely. Intolerance of ambiguity is the tendency to see ambiguous situations as a threat, and tolerance is the tendency to see them as desirable. He named three kinds of ambiguous situation. A novel situation is new, so you have few familiar cues. A complex one has so many cues that they are hard to take in. An insoluble one has cues that contradict one another, so no clear answer exists.

What our test asks

Our tolerance of ambiguity test uses Budner's three situations as its three scores: novelty, complexity and insolubility, with four statements each. The first statement is adapted from one of Budner's items: "An expert who doesn't give a definite answer probably doesn't know much." We wrote the other eleven ourselves, so this is a self-reflection tool based on Budner's framework, not his published scale.

Other examples: "I enjoy trying new things even when I am uncertain what to expect" (novelty), "Complex problems with many possible solutions interest me" (complexity) and "I can accept that some questions do not have good answers" (insolubility). Half of the statements describe discomfort with ambiguity and are scored in reverse, so a higher score always means more tolerance. You answer on a five-point scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree.

Why it matters

Low tolerance of ambiguity often shows as a pull toward early closure: picking the first answer that ends the uncertainty, even when waiting would give a better one. In decisions about work, money or health, that pull can cost more than the uncertainty itself.

A close relative of the trait is studied in anxiety research. In 1994 Mark Freeston, Michel Dugas and colleagues described intolerance of uncertainty, the belief that uncertainty is unacceptable and should be avoided, and linked it to worry. It later became a central idea in their treatment approach for generalised anxiety. A low score on our test is not a sign of an anxiety disorder. If not knowing how things will turn out regularly keeps you awake, the anxiety test (GAD-7) is a better place to look.

High tolerance has limits too. Some questions do have a clear answer, and treating every question as open can become a way of putting off a decision.

Using your result

Look at which of your three scores is lowest. A low novelty score often shows as reluctance to change jobs, cities or habits. A low complexity score shows when a problem has many moving parts. A low insolubility score shows with questions that may never have an answer, such as a moral dilemma or why a relationship ended.

If ambiguity mostly affects how you make choices, the decision-making style test adds another angle. The psychological flexibility test looks at how you act when difficult thoughts and feelings get in the way.