UNASSIGNED: The present study conducts a retrospective bibliometric analysis to examine the quantifiable and qualitative evolution of the concept of tolerance to ambiguity (TA) over time. Additionally, a scientometric analysis using quantitative methods on scientific measurements and trends aims to profile and identify the concept, as well as its development in research themes. The relevance of this study is underscored by the growing interest and development of research on TA, particularly in fields like entrepreneurship where psychological factors are significant.
UNASSIGNED: The research includes highly relevant literature, such as Budner and Frenkel-Brunswick, which define TA as a predisposition to perceive ambiguous situations as desirable and as a personality variable centered on the emotional and perceptual domain, respectively. Data was obtained from the eight indices comprising the main Web of Science collection, covering research from 1975 to December 2022. A total of 378 articles were identified.
UNASSIGNED: The analysis reveals that scientific production peaked in 2022 with 45 articles. In terms of citations, 7,773 were found, with the highest concentration in 2022, totaling 1,203 citations. This indicates a significant increase in research interest and output related to TA.
UNASSIGNED: The study highlights the growing exploration of the concept of TA, emphasizing its importance across multiple disciplines in dealing with uncertainty. The research demonstrates that TA significantly influences decision-making and adaptability, highlighting its value in business and educational settings. By analyzing leading publications, authors, and research centers, the study shows the diversity of approaches to understanding TA, indicating a promising direction for future research.

In the realm of language education, the influence of learners\' personality traits on their educational outcomes within novel instructional frameworks has gained prominence, prompting an exploration into the effects of ambiguity tolerance on grammar acquisition among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students. This study investigates the impact of learners\' personality traits on their learning outcomes in innovative instructional models, such as flipped and blended classes. A sample of 120 EFL students was divided into four comparative groups and two control groups based on their proficiency and ambiguity tolerance (AT) scores. The study utilized a Learning Management System (LMS) to deliver instruction to the different groups. The blended group received a combination of online and face-to-face instruction, while the flipped group received online instruction using the flipped approach. The control group received only face-to-face instruction. After a semester of instruction, a posttest on grammar learning was administered. The findings showed that the blended group performed better than the flipped and face-to-face groups in terms of grammar learning. The study also found no significant differences in grammar learning between high AT and low AT participants in the flipped and blended classes. However, high AT students in the face-to-face class demonstrated higher levels of success in grammar learning compared to low AT students.

OBJECTIVE: Ambiguity tolerance specific to the clinical context - in contrast to ambiguity tolerance as a personality trait - may vary with experience and has received considerable attention. Although this tolerance appears to be related to burnout and work engagement, few studies have examined this association among physicians. Thus, we aimed to examine the relationships between clinical context-specific ambiguity tolerance, burnout, and work engagement among physicians in Japan.
METHODS: We conducted a nationwide cross-sectional study in Japan. We invited family physicians from 14 family medicine residency programs and physicians with specialties other than family medicine from monitors of an Internet survey company to participate in the study. We measured ambiguity tolerance in the clinical context using the Japanese version of the Tolerance of Ambiguity in Medical Students and Doctors (J-TAMSAD) scale, burnout using the Japanese version of the Burnout Assessment Scale (BAT-J), and work engagement using the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES). We performed a multivariable linear regression analysis to determine whether the J-TAMSAD scale score was associated with the BAT-J and UWES scores.
RESULTS: 383 respondents were included in the analysis. After adjustment for possible confounders, clinical context-specific ambiguity tolerance showed a dose-dependent negative association with burnout (adjusted mean difference  -0.39, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.56 to -0.22 for the highest J-TAMSAD score quartile compared with the lowest). Ambiguity tolerance in the clinical context also showed a dose-dependent positive association with work engagement (adjusted mean difference 0.83, 95% CI 0.49 to 1.16 for the highest J-TAMSAD score quartile compared with the lowest).
CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that tolerance for ambiguity in the clinical context was negatively associated with burnout, and positively associated with work engagement. These findings will be useful in developing interventions aimed at preventing burnout and promoting work engagement among physicians.

Exposure to early life adversity (ELA) is hypothesized to sensitize threat-responsive neural circuitry. This may lead individuals to overestimate threat in the face of ambiguity, a cognitive-behavioral phenotype linked to poor mental health. The tendency to process ambiguity as threatening may stem from difficulty distinguishing between ambiguous and threatening stimuli. However, it is unknown how exposure to ELA relates to neural representations of ambiguous and threatening stimuli, or how processing of ambiguity following ELA relates to psychosocial functioning. The current fMRI study examined multivariate representations of threatening and ambiguous social cues in 41 emerging adults (aged 18 to 19 years). Using representational similarity analysis, we assessed neural representations of ambiguous and threatening images within affective neural circuitry and tested whether similarity in these representations varied by ELA exposure. Greater exposure to ELA was associated with greater similarity in neural representations of ambiguous and threatening images. Moreover, individual differences in processing ambiguity related to global functioning, an association that varied as a function of ELA. By evidencing reduced neural differentiation between ambiguous and threatening cues in ELA-exposed emerging adults and linking behavioral responses to ambiguity to psychosocial wellbeing, these findings have important implications for future intervention work in at-risk, ELA-exposed populations.

Background: The main purpose of this study was to delineate the role of motivational structure and traumatic events in the prediction of ambiguity tolerance in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Methods: A total of 200 patients with the diagnosis of IBS, referred to the Shariati hospital in 2018, were enrolled using a correlational design and convenience sampling. All participants were asked to complete the ambiguity tolerance questionnaire, the life event checklist, and the personal concerns inventory. Data analysis was performed by Pearson correlation method and regression analysis test in SPSS software. Results: Findings showed that there was a significant relationship between traumatic events (r=- 0.66, P=0.01) and adaptive (r=0.24, P=0.01) and non-adaptive motivational structure (non-AMS) (r=- 0.10, P=0.01) with tolerance of ambiguity (P<0.05). With increasing non-AMS and with decreasing non-AMS and traumatic events, the tolerance of ambiguity is increased. Moreover, the motivational structure (adaptive and non-adaptive) and traumatic events could define and predict 43% of the variance in ambiguity tolerance. Conclusion: Thus, regarding the important role of motivational structure and traumatic events in predicting ambiguity tolerance in IBS patients, it is prudent to put emphasis on these measures to improve patients\' overall health and probably alleviate symptoms and provide psychologic rehabilitation.

Exercise training has been proposed as a method for improving cognitive function. However, it is unknown whether chronic physical activity promotes divergent thinking and its underlying mechanism. Ambiguity tolerance has been considered relevant to divergent thinking. Therefore, this study sought to investigate whether individuals engaging in different types of exercise training differed in divergent thinking and to examine the mediating role of ambiguity tolerance underlying the training effect. The study was conducted in a sample of 492 university students who completed the unusual use task and the ambiguity tolerance questionnaire. The results revealed that individuals who underwent physical training proposed more creative ideas than non-physical training individuals did. Individuals engaging in multiple movement training scored higher in fluency, flexibility, and originality than their counterparts engaging in single movement training. Furthermore, ambiguity tolerance fully explained the difference in divergent thinking fluency between the physical and non-physical training groups. These findings provide preliminary evidence for the benefits of physical training on divergent thinking.

The tendency to interpret ambiguous stimuli as threatening has been associated with a range of anxiety disorders. Responses to ambiguity may be particularly relevant to mental health during the transition from adolescence to adulthood (\"emerging adulthood\"), when individuals encounter unfamiliar challenges and navigate novel social situations. However, it remains unclear whether neural representations of ambiguity relate to risk for anxiety. The present study sought to examine whether multivariate representations of ambiguity - and their similarity to representations of threat - relate to appraisals of ambiguity or anxiety in a sample of emerging adults. Participants (N = 41) viewed threatening (angry), nonthreatening (happy), and ambiguous (surprised) facial stimuli while undergoing fMRI. Outside of the scanner, participants were presented with the same stimuli and categorized the ambiguous faces as positive or negative. Using representational similarity analyses (RSA), we investigated whether the degree of pattern similarity in responses to ambiguous, nonthreatening, and threatening faces within the amygdala related to appraisals of ambiguous stimuli and anxiety symptomatology. We found that individuals who evidenced greater similarity (i.e., less differentiation) in neural representations of ambiguous and nonthreatening faces within the left amygdala reported lower concurrent anxiety. Additionally, trial-level pattern similarity predicted subsequent appraisals of ambiguous stimuli. These findings provide insight into how neural representations of ambiguity relate to risk or resilience for the development of anxiety.

UNASSIGNED: A rich vocabulary supports human achievements in socio-economic activities, education, and communication. It is therefore important to clarify the nature of language acquisition as a complex multidimensional process. However, both the psychological and neurophysiological mechanisms underpinning language learning, as well as the links between them, are still poorly understood.
UNASSIGNED: This study aims to explore the psychological and neurophysiological correlates of successful word acquisition in a person\'s native language.
UNASSIGNED: Thirty adults read sentences with novel nouns, following which the participants\' electroencephalograms were recorded during a word-reading task. Event- related potentials in response to novel words and alpha oscillation parameters (amplitude, variability, and long-range temporal correlation dynamics) were analyzed. Learning outcomes were assessed at the lexical and semantic levels. Psychological variables measured using Amthauer\'s test (verbal abilities), BIS/BAS scales (motivation), and the MSTAT-1 (ambiguity tolerance) and alpha oscillation parameters were factored.
UNASSIGNED: Better recognition of novel words was related to two factors which had high factor loadings for all measured alpha oscillation parameters, indicating the role of attention networks and respective neural activity for enabling information processing. More successful learners had lower P200 amplitude, which also suggests higher attention-system involvement. Another factor predicted better acquisition of word meanings for less ambiguity-tolerant students, while the factor which pooled logical conceptual thinking ability and persistence in goal-reaching, positively correlated with acquisition of both word forms and meanings.
UNASSIGNED: The psychological factors predominantly correlated with word-learning success in semantic tasks, while neurophysiological variables were linked to performance in the recognition task.

BACKGROUND: The medical degree is a long and challenging program, not just academically, but regarding the expectations engrained in the culture of medical education. The recent proliferation of literature on the poor mental well-being among students suggests a dilemma that often lays the onus on students to improve their health. The link between personality and vulnerability to psychological distress is acknowledged. This longitudinal study looked at personality in 1st-year and changes in levels of certain psychological traits, as proxy indicators of well-being, in 4th-year. We aimed to determine to what extent changes in psychological traits over time may be attributed to personality.
METHODS: Medical students completed surveys at the start (1st-year: baseline) and finish (4th-year: follow-up) of their medical degree (N = 154). Temperament and character personality, Perfectionism-Concern over mistakes (CoM), Ambiguity Tolerance, Resilience, Calling to medicine, and demographic variables were measured. Paired t-tests compared changes in psychological traits from baseline to follow-up. Linear regression examined whether personality at baseline would predict levels of psychological traits at follow-up.
RESULTS: The temperament and character profile of the sample was as expected, and congruent with previous studies, which describe a mature personality. Over four years, levels of Perfectionism-CoM significantly increased, while Resilience, Ambiguity Tolerance and Calling to medicine decreased. Harm Avoidance, Persistence, Self-Directedness and Cooperativeness at baseline significantly predicted levels of these traits at follow-up, but effect sizes were weak. Correlations were in the expected direction and weak.
CONCLUSIONS: Most commencing medical students, including this cohort, have mature personalities with an industrious temperament and an adaptable character. Yet over four years of medicine, Ambiguity Tolerance, Resilience and Calling declined while Perfectionism-CoM, already elevated at baseline, continued to increase to the final year. Of concern is the increased perfectionism that is strongly associated with poor mental health and psychological distress. The findings suggest a closer look at the entirety of the education environment and how its culture, including secondary school and the medical school admissions processes may influence these trends in students. As medical educators we should question why the pathway to medicine places such unhealthy pressure on students who aspire to be doctors.

Teachers\' work engagement is regarded as a critical issue in educational contexts, so the emotional factors and personality traits, and their effects on teacher engagement have drawn the attention of investigators. This study seeks to investigate the relationship between teachers\' emotional intelligence, ambiguity tolerance, and work engagement. Moreover, this study tries to investigate the contribution of emotional intelligence and ambiguity tolerance to teachers\' work engagement. To do so, 322 teachers (96 males and 226 females) participated in this study. Schutte\'s Self Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SSEIT), Multiple Stimulus Types Ambiguity Tolerance Scale-II (MSTAT-II), and Self-report engagement Questionnaire were used in this study. The statistical techniques used in this study are the Spearman Rho test and ANOVA. The findings showed that there are significant correlations between work engagement, emotional intelligence, and ambiguity tolerance. Comparing the predictability power, teachers\' emotional intelligence (B = 0.611) proved to have a higher index compared to their index of ambiguity tolerance (B = 0.2). This study concluded that emotionally intelligent teachers and teachers with higher levels of ambiguity tolerance are more engaged in the EFL contexts. Moreover, the study has some pedagogical implications and suggestions for different teacher educators, policy-makers, and advisors. The ideas can improve their awareness of teachers\' emotional intelligence, ambiguity tolerance, and work engagement in educational environments.