Variable Details
Available Studies
MAP, LATC
Categories
Affect and Personality
Fear of uncertainty
Harm avoidance subscale: Fear of uncertainty - Sum of 7 items
This variable is only available in MAP and LATC.
Fear of uncertainty is measured using the 7-item fear of uncertainty subscale of the harm avoidance scale. The harm avoidance scale comes from the Temperament and Character Inventory and consists of four subscales: anticipatory worry, fear of uncertainty, shyness, and fatigability.
Participants are asked to respond true/mostly true or false/mostly false to each item. The score for this subscale ranges from 0 to 7 and is the number of item responses indicative of the trait. Higher scores indicate greater fear of uncertainty.
Participants are presented the following items:
| Item no. | Item | Coding |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | I often feel intense and worried in unfamiliar situations, even when others feel there is little to worry about. | True = 1 |
| 2 | I often feel tense and worried in unfamiliar situations, even when others feel there is no danger at all. | True = 1 |
| 3 | I usually feel tense and worried when I have to do something new and unfamiliar. | True = 1 |
| 4 | Most of the time I would prefer to do something a little risky (like riding in an automobile over steep hills and sharp turns) rather than having to stay quiet and inactive for a few hours. | False = 1 |
| 5 | I usually stay calm and secure in situations that most people would find physically dangerous. | False = 1 |
| 6 | Most of the time I would prefer to do something risky (like hang-gliding or parachute jumping) rather than having to stay quiet and inactive for a few hours. | False = 1 |
| 7 | I am usually confident that I can easily do things that most people consider dangerous (such as driving an automobile fast on a wet or icy road. | False = 1 |
Response choices for each item:
| Coding | Response |
|---|---|
| True | True or mostly true |
| False | False of mostly false |
Note: The subscale score is calculated if at least 75% of the items are non-missing. Missing values (when less than 25%) are assigned the average item score of the non-missing items.