Uncertainty Makes Me Emotional: Uncertainty as an Elicitor and Modulator of Emotional States.

ABSTRACT: Uncertainty and emotion are an inevitable part of everyday life and play a vital role in mental health. Yet, our understanding of how uncertainty and emotion interact is limited. Here, an online survey was conducted (n = 231) to examine whether uncertainty evokes and modulates a range of negative and positive emotions. The data show that uncertainty is predominantly associated with negative emotional states such as fear/anxiety. However, uncertainty was also found to modulate a variety of other negative (i.e., sadness/upset, anger/frustration, and confusion) and positive (i.e., surprise/interest and excited/enthusiastic) emotional states, depending on the valence of an anticipated outcome (i.e., negative and positive) and the sub parameter of uncertainty (i.e., risk and ambiguity).

SUBMITTER: Morriss J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8957830 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature