BEHAVIORAL EXPRESSIONS OF INTOLERANCE OF UNCERTAINTY IN WORRY - EXPERIMENTAL FINDINGS

Intolerance of uncertainty has been related to increased worry in rece nt conceptual models of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). The presen t study examines the relationship between a measure of intolerance of uncertainty, the intolerance of Uncertainty scale (IU), and behaviors associated with GAD, such as slowness of execution and amount of evide nce required before decision making. A total of 49 individuals partici pated in the study. Three experimental tasks varying in level of ambig uity and difficulty were used. The analyses show a positive correlatio n between scores on the IU and number of cues required before respondi ng in a moderately ambiguous inference task However, scores on the IU were not significantly related to responses in an unambiguous task (re gardless of the level of difficulty) or in a highly ambiguous task. Th e results suggest that high worrier have a lower threshold of toleranc e of uncertainty for intermediate levels of ambiguity. The results are discussed in terms of theoretical models of GAD.