Appel, H., & Gerlach, A. L. (2025).
British Journal of Clinical Psychology,
64(3), 806–816.
Abstract
Objectives
Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is characterized by a pervasive negative reaction to uncertainty. It is a transdiagnostic risk factor for various mental disorders. Since decisions often need to be made in the face of uncertainty, IU is associated with indecisiveness, a dispositional difficulty in making decisions. Indecisiveness is also linked to a range of mental disorders. While IU is seen as a causal factor in indecisiveness, experimental studies on this assumption are lacking.
Methods
In this pre-registered, adequately powered study (N = 301), IU was experimentally increased or decreased compared to a control group, and the effect on indecisiveness was observed. Indecisiveness was assessed in a situational context, focusing on two decisions that were personally relevant to participants.
Results
The manipulation successfully affected IU. As predicted, increased IU led to more indecisiveness across both decisions compared to decreased IU. Exploratory analyses found that situational IU mediated the effect of the experimental manipulation on indecisiveness.
Conclusions
The results are the first to demonstrate a causal effect of IU on indecisiveness, thus contributing to the explanation of indecisiveness and the role that uncertainty management plays in it. Moreover, they have implications for treating various mental disorders by highlighting the role of IU in the transdiagnostic phenomenon of indecisiveness.
Practitioner points
- This is the first study to show that intolerance of uncertainty—a pervasive negative reaction to uncertainty—has a causal effect on chronic decision-making difficulties (i.e., indecisiveness).
- Both traits are associated transdiagnostically with symptoms of various mental disorders and are therefore therapeutically relevant.
- For patients presenting with indecisiveness, targeting intolerance of uncertainty may be an important component contributing to improvement.
