Will you get the job you applied for? What will your medical test results reveal? And what does that unusually vague email from your boss actually mean?
Uncertainty and change have always been difficult to manage, although some people find them more challenging than others, said Michel Dugas, a psychology professor at the University of Québec in Outaouais. The rapid pace of change in politics, technology and other areas of life has added to these challenges.
Dugas said everyone can benefit from learning to feel more comfortable with the unknown.
“Uncertainty is a fundamental part of life, whether it's our relationships, our health, our finances,” he said. “Learning to be able to deal with not knowing is a fundamental skill for quality of life.”
With practice, people can learn not only to tolerate uncertainty but also to welcome it. After all, Dugas noted, life could become rather dull if everything were predictable.
Why Uncertainty Makes Us Uncomfortable
Discomfort with uncertainty varies from person to person and depends on the situation, said Nick Carleton, a psychology professor at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada.
For example, finding an unopened box at a party surrounded by balloons, friends and the smell of cake might create excitement. Discovering the same box unattended at a subway station, however, could provoke fear.
Some caution about the unknown is a natural survival instinct. Carleton explained that people who were excessively attracted to uncertainty might have taken dangerous risks, while those who feared it too much might have missed essential opportunities to survive.
Smartphones May Reduce Our Ability to Handle the Unknown
Jeroen van Baar, a psychiatric epidemiology researcher at the Boston University School of Public Health, and his colleagues reviewed 137 studies conducted since the 1990s. The studies used the same measurement scale to assess intolerance of uncertainty among college students.
Intolerance of uncertainty refers to an unusually strong negative reaction to situations in which the outcome is unknown, beyond what the circumstances might reasonably justify.
The researchers found that average intolerance-of-uncertainty scores had increased considerably.
One possible explanation is the widespread use of smartphones, which has reduced everyday opportunities to practise dealing with uncertainty. People can now use navigation apps to avoid getting lost, notify others when they are running late and instantly settle arguments about minor facts.
Van Baar said having mobile phones readily available allows people to discover almost anything immediately. As a result, they may have fewer opportunities to learn that not knowing what will happen next is manageable and that they can cope without immediate answers.
Learn to Live Without Immediate Answers
When discomfort with uncertainty develops into anxiety that disrupts everyday life, professional help may be necessary, Dugas said. Treatment can include behavioural experiments that allow people to experience uncertainty in a safe and controlled manner.
Dugas described a patient who was extremely anxious about academic grades. The patient was instructed to wait 48 hours before checking an examination result already available online.
Although the patient initially experienced intense distress, the anxiety decreased significantly by the second day.
Dugas explained that people can develop new ways of thinking and responding only by experiencing the situations they fear.
Smaller exercises can also help. These might include leaving a phone at home for a short period or making a relatively unimportant decision without seeking reassurance from other people.
Ryan Jane Jacoby, a clinical psychologist and researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital, advised people facing genuine problems to resist the temptation to eliminate every uncertainty.
When travel plans are disrupted, for example, people should first determine whether the problem is within their control and can be resolved.
If it can be addressed, they should identify three or four realistic alternatives, compare the advantages and disadvantages of each, and choose the most suitable option. After making the decision, they should avoid repeatedly questioning whether another choice would have been better.
Jacoby noted that there is probably no perfect decision.
When a situation cannot be changed, she recommended moving away from problem-solving and towards acceptance. Mindfulness exercises or engaging activities can help people focus on the present instead of becoming trapped in repetitive, anxious thoughts.
Approach Surprises With a Child’s Curiosity
Accepting uncertainty does not mean overlooking genuine dangers, denying disappointment or pretending that every setback is beneficial.
In her book Comfortable with Uncertainty, prominent American Buddhist teacher Pema Chödrön describes practitioners as warriors of nonaggression who accept that they cannot know what will happen next.
“We can never avoid uncertainty,” she writes. “This not-knowing is part of the adventure.”
Carleton advised people to acknowledge their negative emotions while remaining open to the possibility that something valuable could emerge from an unexpected disruption. The goal is not to assume that every surprise will produce a positive outcome but to remain receptive to different possibilities.
Jacoby suggested recalling how children often respond to unexpected events with excitement rather than fear.
Children tend to welcome surprises, she said, whereas adults increasingly worry about uncertainty and imagine numerous possible negative outcomes as they grow older.
Dugas emphasised that learning to accept the unpredictable nature of the universe is essential to emotional well-being.
People who cannot tolerate the fact that life is uncertain, he warned, may find it much harder to achieve happiness and maintain a good quality of life.