ABSTRACT
Whereas in both lay psychology and scientific analysis, uncertainty is typically associated with negative emotional reactions (as in “fear of the unknown”), we offer a differentiated perspective whereby the response to uncertainty depends on individuals’ mindset and focus and can range over a large spectrum of affective reactions, from anxiety to exuberance. In our framework, we distinguish between “objective” uncertainty, the actual likelihood of something happening, which is largely unknowable, and subjective uncertainty, the believed likelihood and nature of it happening. Moreover, responses to subjective uncertainty can vary as a function of past conditioning of such uncertainty to positive and negative experiences, as well as prior proximal such experiences. We cite empirical evidence for our theoretical analysis, including our own studies of reactions to uncertainty.
