Keywords: tolerance for ambiguity, industrial design, education, uncertainty, categorization, novelty, changing stimuli, change, resistance to closure.
The concept of tolerance of ambiguity (TA), which was originally developed by Frenkel-Brunswik (1948), has attracted a great deal of research over the last 60 years (Merrotsy, 2013).
Ambiguity tolerance is a fancy term for operating in the gray. It reflects an ability to accept unclear, uncertain, or novel situations and work effectively in this environment.
While we all crave some level of certainty or comfort, we actually have a unique level of tolerance for ambiguity (TA) with a general set point that can be shifted.
Ambiguity tolerance has been defined as the ability and skill to hold multiple interpretations and meanings of experience in mind simultaneously.
Ambiguity tolerance refers to how well or to what degree people are able to tolerate uncertainty without feeling threatened.
The present chapter aims to describe tolerance of ambiguity (TA) to make it more tangible, to disambiguate without reducing, and indeed expand the concept.
