TOLERANCE OF AMBIGUITY AS A CONTENT SPECIFIC CONSTRUCT

Despite a lack of definitive evidence, tolerance of ambiguity has most often been treated as a generalized personality trait. In this paper we propose a measure of ambiguity tolerance (Attitudinal Ambiguity Tol erance scale) which can test the assumptions of generality by assessin g cross-content variability. The validity and reliability of the Attit udinal Ambiguity Tolerance scale were found to be adequate. The result s indicate that tolerance of ambiguity is not a generalized personalit y trait, but rather, that expressions of ambiguity tolerance are conte nt specific. The findings suggest that, in comparison to the Attitudin al Ambiguity Tolerance scale, personality measures may be inaccurate p redictors of ambiguity tolerance in specific content domains. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.