Tolerance of Ambiguity: A Review of the Recent Literature

By Adrian Furnham, Joseph Marks. 2013

339 citations recorded by the source corpus.

This review paper attempts to update the literature on tolerance of ambiguity (TA) and related concepts since a previous review (Furnham & Ribchester, 1995). Various related concepts like Uncertainly Avoidance and In/Tolerance of Uncertainly are reviewed. Both correlational and experimental studies of TA are reviewed and tabulated. Further, an attempt was made to identify and critique various different questionnaires design to measure TA. Recommendations for the use of these tests in research are made. The reasons for progress and lack of progress in this field are highlighted.

Subfields: General Decision Sciences, Management Science and Operations Research, Safety Research

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/91c3fff5a3a78e6ce4e3e295489be8358ce358c5

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In General Decision Sciences

1. C. Pryor
2. John Baer
3. R. Duane Ireland
4. David J. Ketchen, Jr.
5. Jos Akkermans
6. Justin W. Webb

In Management Science and Operations Research

1. C. Pryor
2. John Baer
3. R. Duane Ireland
4. David J. Ketchen, Jr.
5. Jos Akkermans
6. Justin W. Webb

In Safety Research

1. S. Kubasch
2. John Baer
3. R. Duane Ireland
4. Jos Akkermans
5. Justin W. Webb

Citations in the corpus

• The Importance of Domain-Specific Expertise in Creativity (2015, background): “…interest in new ideas about clothing fashions; ● tolerance of ambiguity, which in some domains is perhaps a plus for creativity, in others a minus (Furnham & Marks, 2013; Merrotsy, 2013); and one can be very tolerant of ambiguity in one domain and have no patience for it at all in others; and…”
• Toward An Integration of the Behavioral and Cognitive Influences on the Entrepreneurship Process (2016, background): “Entrepreneurship J., : – (201 )6422110 Individuals also differ in their tolerance for ambiguity, which is a personality variable capturing individuals’ preference for ambiguous situations (Furnham and Marks, 2013).”
• The Appeal of Challenge in the Perception of Art: How Ambiguity, Solvability of Ambiguity, and the Opportunity for Insight Affect Appreciation (2015, background): “In sum, there are various instruments measuring ambiguity tolerance, whereas a clear operational definition is still missing (Furnham & Marks, 2013).”
• #Trending topics in careers: a review and future research agenda (2017, background): “Similarly, future research might explore the similarities and differences between career resilience (e.g. Bimrose and Hearne, 2012) and ambiguity tolerance (e.g. Furnham and Marks, 2013), two constructs that both relate to how individuals deal with setbacks and uncertainty.”