Making it worse by trying to make it better - Intolerance of uncertainty is associated with maladaptive safety behavior in decision making

Background: Many decisions involve uncertainty. Consequently, intolerance of uncertainty (IU)—a dispositional aversion to uncertainty—may interfere with decision making and cause indecisiveness—a chronic inability to make decisions. Problematic decision-related safety behaviors may play a role in this. However, previous studies have not conclusively established this link. Therefore, this research tests whether IU is associated with safety behavior, operationalized with a novel measure, and whether indecisiveness mediates this relationship.Methods: Across four studies (total N = 944), participants reported their IU and imagined a decision scenario. They rated the extent to which their response to this decision aligned with features of safety behaviors. Study 1 examined the validity of these safety behavior ratings by comparing ratings of a maladaptive “safety behavior-like” response to a decision vs an adaptive response. In Studies 2a, 2b, and 3, indecisiveness was also assessed. Additionally, decision importance was experimentally varied to evaluate whether more important decisions would amplify the IU-safety behavior association.Results: Study 1 confirmed the validity of the safety behavior measurement, showing that a maladaptive behavior was rated higher than an adaptive behavior. Most importantly, across all studies, higher IU predicted more safety behavior in response to decisions, irrespective of decision importance. Studies 2a-3 additionally showed that this relationship was partially mediated by indecisiveness. Conclusions: Our findings add an important insight to the literature, using an unequivocal safety behavior measure to demonstrate its association with IU across decision-making contexts. The results are consistent with IU as a transdiagnostic mental health risk factor, with significant implications for understanding and intervening in maladaptive decision-making processes.