ABSTRACT
Insecurities may arise in situations of strategic interaction, interpersonal trust, and intrapersonal experiences of free will. The uncertainties associated with these contexts are comprehensible and manageable if ineliminable. Whether uncertainty turns into insecurity is a question of temperament and attitude. We focus on the uncertainties a self-aware social creature faces. We suggest, among other points, the following: First, strategic reasoning is characterized by, depending on the context, a tolerance or an aversion to surprise. Second, acts of trust as opposed to acts of distrust increase trust and thus decrease insecurity if there is any trust to begin with. Third, belief in the freedom of the will is negatively related to uncertainty aversion and to social perceptions of competence and morality. Fourth, radical freedom, creativity, personal growth, and strategic advantage may require randomness and a tolerance of insecurity.
