Experimental induction of state intolerance of uncertainty: A preliminary study

Abstract

This study is aimed at pilot testing the experimental procedure for inducing state levels of intolerance of uncertainty (IU) using a sample of 62 undergraduate psychology students (M = 23.13, SD = 2.88, female 90.3%). Although similar procedures were used in other cultural contexts, this is the first time this phenomenon has been tested in Serbia. We used a two-step state IU induction procedure. The first step included describing and analysing one upcoming idiosyncratic life event with a potentially poor outcome. The second step required reading a list of irrational beliefs about uncertainty. In addition, we used an adapted Serbian IUS-11 scale, the Anxiety subscale from the DASS-21, and a single-item measure to collect information about state IU, state anxiety, and state worry, respectively. The ANCOVA results revealed that experimental and control groups did not differ in state IU after the induction. However, there seemed to be an increase in state IU in the experimental group, but not in the control group, when the pretest and posttest scores were compared in each group separately. Additionally, a significant main effect of the measurement time point on state worry and anxiety was found. In contrast, the main effects of condition and measurement time point by condition interaction were non-significant. Although the results are not straightforward (possibly due to a small sample size), the modified procedure seems to potentially serve as a tool for inducing state IU. In the concluding part, we discuss the obtained findings, the procedure's feasibility, as well as the possible modifications that could produce more precise effects.

Keywords

• intolerance of uncertainty
• worry
• anxiety
• experimental manipulation