The purpose of the current study was to assess how individuals responded to uncertain relationship vignettes that were either relatively lower vs. relatively higher in threat, and whether their responses were moderated by Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU), a trait-like tendency to perceive uncertainty as unfair and distressing. We recruited 254 18–25-year-old English speaking participants who were currently in a romantic relationship for an online study. These participants were randomly assigned to a low or high threat condition and were asked to imagine three uncertain relationship scenarios occurring in their current relationship, and to indicate how they would respond if the events happened with their partner tomorrow. We found that, relative to individuals lower in IU, individuals higher in IU were overall more distressed, more apt to appraise the situations as threatening and uncertain, and endorsed different behaviours at both low and high threat levels. At low threat, higher IU individuals were more likely to engage in avoidance or safety behaviours; at high threat, higher IU individuals were more likely to argue with their partner. Clinical interventions targeting IU beliefs, emotion regulation, and interpersonal skills may be especially helpful for higher IU individuals, to improve their ability to cope with uncertainty within their relationships, and in turn potentially improve their relationship experiences.
Call Number
LE3 .A278 2025
Date Issued
2025
Supervisor
Degree Name
Master of Science
Degree Level
Masters
Degree Discipline
Affiliation
Abstract
Publisher
Acadia University