title: Attitude Toward Ambiguity: Empirically Robust Factors in Self-Report Personality Scales.
abstract: Two studies were conducted to examine the factor structure of attitude toward ambiguity, a broad personality construct that refers to personal reactions to perceived ambiguous stimuli in a variety of context and situations. Using samples from two countries, Study 1 mapped the hierarchical structure of 133 items from seven tolerance-intolerance of ambiguity scales (N = 360, Italy; N = 306, United States). Three major factors-Discomfort with Ambiguity, Moral Absolutism/Splitting, and Need for Complexity and Novelty-were recovered in each country with high replicability coefficients across samples. In Study 2 (N = 405, Italian community sample; N =366, English native speakers sample), we carried out a confirmatory analysis on selected factor markers. A bifactor model had an acceptable fit for each sample and reached the construct-level invariance for general and group factors. Convergent validity with related traits was assessed in both studies. We conclude that attitude toward ambiguity can be best represented a multidimensional construct involving affective (Discomfort with Ambiguity), cognitive (Moral Absolutism/Splitting), and epistemic (Need for Complexity and Novelty) components.
authors.affiliation: Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy marco.lauriola@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lauriola
authors.affiliation: Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Renato
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Foschi
authors.affiliation: Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Oriana
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Mosca
authors.affiliation: Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR.
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weller
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D010556:Personality Tests; D057566:Self Report; D014481:United States
keywords: ambiguity tolerance–intolerance; factor analysis; five-factor model; intolerance of uncertainty; need for closure