Intolerance Of Ambiguity

[Walter Ego]

The phrase "intolerance of ambiguity" popped into to my head today. I'm not sure why. I don't even think I was thinking about CT believers at the time.

I thought it may have been one of the personality traits of people prone to accept CTs enumerated by some UK university psychologists in a Channel 4 documentary I put on one of my blogs a few year ago. (Viewable here. Caution: contains a large dose of the execrable David Icke.) But reviewing the program I see the main characteristics given by the researcher were:

1. Low levels of trust
2. Alienation from society
3. Prone to assumptions

I would add ambiguity intolerance to the list. From Wikipedia:

Ambiguity tolerance is an important issue in personality development and education. In psychology and in management, levels of tolerance of ambiguity are correlated with creativity, risk aversion, psychological resilience, lifestyle, orientation towards diversity (cross-cultural communication, intercultural competence), and leadership style…

The converse, ambiguity intolerance, which was introduced in The Authoritarian Personality in 1950, was defined in 1975 as a “tendency to perceive or interpret information marked by vague, incomplete, fragmented, multiple, probable, unstructured, uncertain, inconsistent, contrary, contradictory, or unclear meanings as actual or potential sources of psychological discomfort or threat.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambiguity_tolerance

Most adults know that in any historical event there are ambiguities, abnormalities, discrepancies and, yes, "unanswered questions" but understand these unknowable or undefinable aspects of the event do not contradict the essential truth of what happened as far as it can be reasonably known.

Indeed, for the conspiracy mongers the ambiguities, abnormalities, discrepancies and "unanswered questions" are the proof of the conspiracy. We never really know everything about anything, especially complex events with multiple actors and agents. All our questions are never answered, to expect them to be so is childlike.

 

[Sgt Doom]

"...information marked by vague, incomplete, fragmented, multiple, probable, unstructured, uncertain, inconsistent, contrary, contradictory, or unclear meanings..."
Doesn't that basically describe conspiracy theories?

 

[carlitos]

I think that this is reasonable, but to really refine the definition you'd have to control for cultural effects. Geert Hofstede conducted an extensive bit of research across many countries to develop a matrix through which to view cultures, and "uncertainty avoidance" was one of the four axes in his model (which has since expanded to five). More authoritarian cultures imply that there is one Truth (think Islamic world, for instance), and people feel tension when dealing with ambiguity. They are also more resistant to change.

Here is how he describes it:

Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) deals with a society's tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity; it ultimately refers to man's search for Truth. It indicates to what extent a culture programs its members to feel either uncomfortable or comfortable in unstructured situations. Unstructured situations are novel, unknown, surprising, different from usual. Uncertainty avoiding cultures try to minimize the possibility of such situations by strict laws and rules, safety and security measures, and on the philosophical and religious level by a belief in absolute Truth; 'there can only be one Truth and we have it'. People in uncertainty avoiding countries are also more emotional, and motivated by inner nervous energy. The opposite type, uncertainty accepting cultures, are more tolerant of opinions different from what they are used to; they try to have as few rules as possible, and on the philosophical and religious level they are relativist and allow many currents to flow side by side. People within these cultures are more phlegmatic and contemplative, and not expected by their environment to express emotions.

ETA - Given the above, perhaps it's not surprising how much of the Arab world (UAI score of 68) embrace conspiracy theories, or how many books Thierry Messian can sell in France (UAI score ~80).

 

[Brainster]

Bob Newhart used to do a bit about how he started out to be an accountant, but they always insisted on getting everything right to the penny whereas he figured if you were within a couple bucks, what did it matter.

So conspiracy theorists are accountants?

 

[catsmate]

Bob Newhart used to do a bit about how he started out to be an accountant, but they always insisted on getting everything right to the penny whereas he figured if you were within a couple bucks, what did it matter.

So conspiracy theorists are accountants?

I doubt if accountants are particularly CT prone but the type of person who thinks that events must have direct, understandable causes would probably be more prone to such ideas. To them the idea that someone no matter how "evil" is directing events is more acceptable that the reality of confusion, chaos and random interactions.

Some people, he believed, looked at the world and saw a clockwork: events happened and triggered off other events, people did what they were programmed to do, and the results came out the other end: love, hate, war, murder, children, whatever.

Other people, Lucas among them, looked out the window and saw nothing but chaos: accident, chance, stupidity, intelligence, avarice, idealism, all rubbing against one another in an unpredictable stew.

John Sandford

 

[Walter Ego]

Other people, Lucas among them, looked out the window and saw nothing but chaos: accident, chance, stupidity, intelligence, avarice, idealism, all rubbing against one another in an unpredictable stew.

That sounds like a pretty good description of the universe to me.

P.S. Could you source that quote?

 

[catsmate]

That sounds like a pretty good description of the universe to me.

P.S. Could you source that quote?

Sorry. It's in John Sandford's 'Phantom Prey'; page 232 in my copy. It's expressed by the main viewpoint character Lucas Davenport.