Are findings on uncertainty transferable to indecisiveness? – Conceptual relationships, critical boundary conditions, and implications for application

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Alexander L. Gerlach, since 1/2020
• Subject Area: Social Psychology, Industrial and Organisational Psychology ; Personality Psychology, Clinical and Medical Psychology, Methodology
• Term: from 2019 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 427465870

Indecisiveness is the chronicle inability to choose due to a fear of making a wrong decision. Indecisiveness is typically considered to be dysfunctional. It can be observed across various psychological disorders and is one of the diagnosis criteria for depression. However, little is known about its underlying psychological mechanisms and potential ways of treatment. Although indecisive individuals are characterized by strong feelings of uncertainty, only few studies have drawn upon existing findings on uncertainty to gain a better understanding of indecisiveness, despite uncertainty being well-studied and providing established findings in psychological research. In the light of the close relationship between indecisiveness and uncertainty, it appears promising to benefit from knowledge on uncertainty as a basis to investigate underlying processes and possible interventions of indecisiveness. The proposed studies therefore aim to use insights from uncertainty research in order to, ultimately, identify starting points for the reduction of indecisiveness. This aim is pursued in three steps: (1.) The concepts of indecisiveness and uncertainty are compared, outlining similarities and differences. (2.) The transferability of findings concerning uncertainty to indecisiveness is tested and limitations of this transferability are determined. (3.) Initial evidence for the utility of these results when planning interventions against indecisiveness is gathered. The expectations are that (1.) indecisiveness and uncertainty are found to be similar but differentiable concepts, (2.) consequences and antecedents of uncertainty can reasonably be transferred to indecisiveness, but limitations apply in certain cases, and (3.) results are relevant for potential treatment of indecisiveness and can be applied to clinical samples with pathological indecisiveness. Ten experiments are presented to test these assumptions, including innovative empirical methods (e.g. Ecological Momentary Intervention) and a clinical sample.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Professorin Dr. Maike Luhmann
• Ehemalige Antragstellerin: Professorin Dr. Birte Englich, until 1/2020 (†)