ABSTRACT
The notion of uncertainty, as studied in interpersonal contexts, is variously defined but generally reflects one of two conceptualizations: one focused on a perceived inability to predict behaviors, attitudes, or outcomes, and the other focused on a perceived inability to understand the meaning behind particular attitudes, behaviors, or outcomes. The nature of uncertainty's association with information has also been the subject of considerable attention and the target of controversy. On the one end, we find conceptualizations of uncertainty as a direct and linear function of an objective quantity of information—such that each bit of information that is acquired decreases uncertainty by that precise amount—and on the other end we find conceptualizations of uncertainty that have no relation, or perhaps more appropriately, a seemingly random association, to acquired information. In the middle, we find scholars struggling with the nature of the association.
