Tolerance of ambiguity: A review of the concept, its measurement and applications

In the Realm of Uncertainty: Quantum Thinking Promotes Tolerance for Ambiguity

According to the principles of quantum mechanics, individuals are unable to accurately predict the precise outcome of a measurement or observation. Despite the significant impact of quantum thinking on science, there is a lack of understanding regarding the psychological consequences associated with adopting such a mindset. This research investigates how engaging in quantum thinking, which accepts the universe's inherent complexities and uncertainties, influences one's tolerance for ambiguity. To test our hypothesis, we conducted three complementary studies involving diverse populations (students and community adults), multiple measures of tolerance of ambiguity (self-report data and behavioral indicators), and different priming procedures (text reading and sentence scrambling tasks). Study 1 demonstrated that university students exposed to quantum thinking principles exhibited greater tolerance for ambiguity within an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) setting. Moving beyond the educational setting, Study 2 corroborated these observations by evaluating an individual's ease with uncertainty and unpredictability across different everyday scenarios. Addressing potential self-report biases, Study 3 incorporated a behavioral measure to objectively validate the observed effect. Together, these findings suggest that the thinking mindset prevalent in physics significantly impacts individuals' cognitive flexibility and behavior, highlighting the broad relevance of quantum thinking beyond its scientific origins.

Evolution of ambiguity tolerance research a scientometric and bibliometric analysis

Introduction

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.

Methods

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.

Results

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.

Discussion

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.

Predicting attitudes toward ambiguity using natural language processing on free descriptions for open-ended question measurements

Individual traits and reactions to ambiguity differ and are conceptualized in terms of an individual's attitudes toward ambiguity or ambiguity tolerance. The development of natural language processing technology has made it possible to measure mental states and reactions through open-ended questions, rather than predefined numerical rating scales, which have traditionally been the dominant method in psychological research. This study presented three ambiguity-related situations and responses collected online from 591 participants in an open-ended format. After the analysis with bidirectional encoder representations from transformers, correlations were calculated using scores from the numerical evaluation by conventional questionnaire, and a significant moderate positive correlation was found. Therefore, this study found that attitudes toward ambiguity can be measured using an open-ended response method of reporting everyday life states. It is a novel methodology that can be expanded to other scales in psychology and can potentially be used in educational and clinical situations where participants can be asked to respond with minimal burden.

Toward Parsimony in Bias Research: A Proposed Common Framework of Belief-Consistent Information Processing for a Set of Biases

One of the essential insights from psychological research is that people's information processing is often biased. By now, a number of different biases have been identified and empirically demonstrated. Unfortunately, however, these biases have often been examined in separate lines of research, thereby precluding the recognition of shared principles. Here we argue that several-so far mostly unrelated-biases (e.g., bias blind spot, hostile media bias, egocentric/ethnocentric bias, outcome bias) can be traced back to the combination of a fundamental prior belief and humans' tendency toward belief-consistent information processing. What varies between different biases is essentially the specific belief that guides information processing. More importantly, we propose that different biases even share the same underlying belief and differ only in the specific outcome of information processing that is assessed (i.e., the dependent variable), thus tapping into different manifestations of the same latent information processing. In other words, we propose for discussion a model that suffices to explain several different biases. We thereby suggest a more parsimonious approach compared with current theoretical explanations of these biases. We also generate novel hypotheses that follow directly from the integrative nature of our perspective.

Does social rigidity predict cognitive rigidity? Profiles of socio-cognitive polarization

Recent research has proposed a relationship between rigid political ideologies and underlying 'cognitive styles'. However, there remain discrepancies in how both social and cognitive rigidity are defined and measured. Problem-solving, or the ability to generate novel ideas by exploring unusual reasoning paths and challenging rigid perspectives around us, is often used to operationalize cognitive flexibility. Thus, we hypothesized a relation between forms of social rigidity, including Socio-cognitive polarization (i.e., a factor capturing conservative political ideology, absolutism/intolerance of ambiguity, and xenophobia), bullshit receptivity (i.e., overestimating pseudo-profound statements), overclaiming (tendency to self-enhance), and cognitive rigidity (i.e., problem-solving). Our results showed differences in performance on problem-solving tasks between four latent profiles of social rigidity identified in our sample. Specifically, those low in socio-cognitive polarization, bullshit, and overclaiming (i.e., less rigid) performed the best on problem-solving. Thus, we conclude that social and cognitive rigidity may share an underlying socio-cognitive construct, wherein those who are more socially rigid are also more likely to be also cognitively rigid when processing non-social information.

Benefits of exercise training on divergent thinking: The mediating role of ambiguity tolerance

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.

Influence of Career Decision Ambiguity Tolerance Preference on Career Adaptability: The Role of Individual and Organizational Career Management

Drawing on the career construction and cognitive appraisal theory, this study constructs a moderated mediation model to explore the mechanism of career decision ambiguity tolerance preference (CDAT-P) on career adaptability via challenge appraisal, as well as the interactive effect of individual and organizational career management. Participants comprised 1023 Chinese university students who completed questionnaires with a three-wave design. The results show that CDAT-P positively predicts career adaptability, and challenge appraisal mediates the direct effect. Moreover, individual career management and organizational career management have an interactive effect on the direct relationship between CDAT-P and challenge appraisal and the first stage of the mediating effect. Specifically, when individual and organizational career management are high, the positive direct effect of CDAT-P on challenge appraisal and the mediating effect are stronger.

Identifying validity evidence for uncertainty tolerance scales: A systematic review

PURPOSE

Uncertainty tolerance (UT) is increasingly valued as a medical graduate attribute and broadly measured among medical student populations. However, the validity evidence underpinning UT scale implementation has not been summarised across studies. The present work evaluates UT scale validity evidence to better inform when, why and how UT scales ought to be used and to identify remaining validity evidence gaps.

METHODS

A literature search for psychometric studies of UT scales was completed in 2022. Records were included if they implemented one of the four most cited UT scales (i.e. Physicians' Reactions to Uncertainty scale 1990 [PRU1990] or 1995 [PRU1995], Tolerance for Ambiguity [TFA] scale or Tolerance of Ambiguity in Medical Students and Doctors scale [TAMSAD]) in a population of physicians and/or medial students and presented validity evidence according to the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing framework. Included studies were rated and analysed according to evidence for test content, response processes, internal structure, relations to other variables and consequences of testing.

RESULTS

Among the investigated scales, 'relations to other variables' and 'internal structure' were the most commonly reported forms of validity evidence. No evidence of 'response processes' or 'consequences of testing' was identified. Overall, the PRU1990 and PRU1995 demonstrated the strongest validity evidence, although evidence primarily related to physician populations.

CONCLUSIONS

None of the studied scales demonstrated evidence for all five sources of validity. Future research would benefit from assessing validity evidence for 'response processes' and 'consequences of testing' among physicians and medical students at different training/career stages to better understand UT construct conceptualisation in these populations. Until further and stronger validity evidence for UT scales is established, we caution against implementing UT scales outside of research settings (e.g. for higher stakes decision making).

Aging, uncertainty, and decision making-A review

There is a great deal of uncertainty in the world. One common source of uncertainty results from incomplete or missing information about probabilistic outcomes (i.e., outcomes that may occur), which influences how people make decisions. The impact of this type of uncertainty may particularly pronounced for older adults, who, as the primary leaders around the world, make highly impactful decisions with lasting outcomes. This review examines the ways in which uncertainty about probabilistic outcomes is perceived, handled, and represented in the aging brain, with an emphasis on how uncertainty may specifically affect decision making in later life. We describe the role of uncertainty in decision making and aging from four perspectives, including 1) theoretical, 2) self-report, 3) behavioral, and 4) neuroscientific. We report evidence of any age-related differences in uncertainty among these contexts and describe how these changes may affect decision making. We then integrate the findings across the distinct perspectives, followed by a discussion of important future directions for research on aging and uncertainty, including prospection, domain-specificity in risk-taking behaviors, and choice overload.

Fostering uncertainty tolerance in anatomy education: Lessons learned from how humanities, arts and social science (HASS) educators develop learners' uncertainty tolerance

Uncertainty tolerance, individuals' perceptions/responses to uncertain stimuli, is increasingly recognized as critical to effective healthcare practice. While the Covid-19 pandemic generated collective uncertainty, healthcare-related uncertainty is omnipresent. Correspondingly, there is increasing focus on uncertainty tolerance as a health professional graduate "competency," and a concomitant interest in identifying pedagogy fostering learners' uncertainty tolerance. Despite these calls, practical guidelines for educators are lacking. There is some initial evidence that anatomy education can foster medical students' uncertainty tolerance (e.g., anatomical variation and dissection novelty), however, there remains a knowledge gap regarding robust curriculum-wide uncertainty tolerance teaching strategies. Drawing upon humanities, arts and social sciences (HASS) educators' established uncertainty tolerance pedagogies, this study sought to learn from HASS academics' experiences with, and teaching practices related to, uncertainty pedagogy using a qualitative, exploratory study design. Framework analysis was undertaken using an abductive approach, wherein researchers oscillate between inductive and deductive coding (comparing to the uncertainty tolerance conceptual model). During this analysis, the authors analyzed ~386 min of data from purposively sampled HASS academics' (n = 14) discussions to address the following research questions: (1) What teaching practices do HASS academics' perceive as impacting learners' uncertainty tolerance, and (2) How do HASS academics execute these teaching practices? The results extend current understanding of the moderating effects of education on uncertainty tolerance and supports prior findings that the anatomy learning environment is ripe for supporting learner uncertainty tolerance development. This study adds to growing literature on the powerful moderating effect education has on uncertainty tolerance and proposes translation of HASS uncertainty tolerance teaching practices to enhance anatomy education.

Black-and-white thinking and conspiracy beliefs prevent parents from vaccinating their children against COVID-19

Understanding predictors of parents' willingness to vaccinate their children appears fundamental to promote vaccine acceptability, especially in a pandemic scenario. The present study aimed to investigate the role of conspiracy beliefs and absolutist thinking in parental attitude toward COVID-19 vaccine, and the predictive role of parents' individual differences on decisions against children's vaccination. An online survey was administered to 415 parents of children aged 5-11, at the very beginning of the vaccination targeting this population in Italy. Results showed that absolutism predicted the tendency to believe in conspiracies, associated with a negative attitude toward the COVID-19 vaccine administration to children. Moreover, mothers were less willing to vaccinate children and parents of children aged 5-7 were more hesitant, or even against vaccination, than parents of older children. Finally, the worry about consequences of COVID-19 infection on children's health facilitated vaccine adherence. These findings contribute to deepening mechanisms regarding the vaccine acceptability.

Reliability of Uncertainty Tolerance Scales Implemented Among Physicians and Medical Students: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

PURPOSE

Uncertainty tolerance (UT) is a construct describing individuals' perceptions of, and responses to, uncertainty across their cognition, emotion, and behavior. Various UT scales have been designed for physician and medical student populations. However, links between UT and other variables (e.g., training stages) are inconsistent, raising concerns about scale reliability and validity. As reliability is a precondition for validity, a necessary first step in assessing UT scales' efficacy is evaluating their reliability. Accordingly, the authors conducted a meta-analysis of the reliability of UT scales designed for, and implemented among, physician and medical student populations.

METHOD

In 2020, the authors searched 4 electronic databases alongside a citation search of previously identified UT scales. They included English-language, peer-reviewed studies that implemented UT scales in physician and/or medical student populations and reported reliability evidence. A meta-analysis of studies' Cronbach's alphas evaluated aggregated internal consistency across studies; subgroup analyses evaluated UT scales by named scale, population, and item characteristics.

RESULTS

Among 4,124 records screened, 35 studies met the inclusion criteria, reporting 75 Cronbach's alphas. Four UT scales appeared in at least 3 included studies: Physicians' Reactions to Uncertainty scale 1990 (PRU1990) and 1995 (PRU1995) versions, Tolerance for Ambiguity scale (TFA), and Tolerance of Ambiguity in Medical Students and Doctors scale (TAMSAD). The scores from these scales ranged in reliability from very good (PRU1990: 0.832, PRU1995: 0.818) to respectable (TFA: 0.761, TAMSAD: 0.711). Aggregated internal consistency was significantly higher ( P < .001) among physicians (0.797) than medical students (0.711).

CONCLUSIONS

UT scales generally demonstrated respectable internal consistency when administered among physicians and medical students, yet the reliability among medical students was significantly lower. The authors caution against using UT scores for decision-making purposes (e.g., applicant selection, program evaluation), especially among medical student populations. Future research should explore the reasons underlying these observed population differences.

Work Expectations, Depressive Symptoms, and Passive Suicidal Ideation Among Older Adults: Evidence From the Health and Retirement Study

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Employment and work transitions (e.g., retirement) influence mental health. However, how psychosocial contexts such as anticipation and uncertainty about work transitions, irrespective of the transitions themselves, relate to mental health is unclear. This study examined the relationships of work expectations with depressive symptoms, major depression episodes (MDE), and passive suicidal ideation over a 10-year period among the "Baby Boom" cohort of the Health and Retirement Study.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Analysis was limited to 13,247 respondents aged 53-70 observed from 2008 to 2018. Past-year depressive symptoms, MDE, and passive suicidal ideation were indexed using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview-Short Form. Expectations regarding working full-time after age 62 were assessed using a probability scale (0%-100%). Mixed-effect logistic regressions with time-varying covariates were used to assess the relationship of work expectations with mental health, accounting for demographics, health status, and functioning, and stratified by baseline employment status.

RESULTS

At baseline, higher work expectations were inversely associated with depressive symptoms. Longitudinally, higher expectations were associated with lower odds of depressive symptoms (odds ratio [OR] = 0.93, 95% CI: 0.91, 0.94). This association was more pronounced among respondents not working at baseline (ORNot working = 0.93 vs ORWorking = 0.96). Greater uncertainty (i.e., expectations near 50%) was also inversely associated with depressive symptoms. Results were similar for past-year MDE and passive suicidal ideation.

DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS

Expectations (overall likelihood and uncertainty), as indicators of psychosocial context, provide insight into the processes that link work transitions with depression risk.

Linking the Humanities With Clinical Reasoning: Proposing an Integrative Conceptual Model for a Graduate Medical Education Humanities Curriculum

Discussion surrounding the role of the humanities as an important analytic epistemology within medical education is generally less robust than literature supporting its value in building empathy and promoting personal reflection and wellness. As such, the humanities have not been considered to be as relevant when teaching medical reasoning or technical skills. Yet, might the humanities offer value in emboldening the analytic thinking of medical learners? This article proposes an integrative conceptual model that links the thought process defining medicine-clinical reasoning-with humanistic analysis in an effort to advance the argument that the humanities offer a complementary and innovative platform that can be used within traditional medical education. The article then discusses preliminary findings from a pilot curriculum based on this model, implemented during internal medicine morning report at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. Preliminary qualitative analysis of transcripts from the pilot curriculum demonstrates that a thought process analogous to that of clinical reasoning can be identified within guided group analyses of humanities works. Participants simultaneously used thought processes that were analytic and intuitive. The emergence of ambiguity/intuition as a theme in the pilot curriculum suggests the humanities could be a powerful tool for exploring and embracing ambiguity in clinical practice. Through the development of an integrative conceptual model, this article helps to demonstrate more explicitly the theoretical link between the reasoning pathways of the humanities and clinical medicine. Though a refined curriculum and more rigorous analysis are needed before arguing for the incorporation of the humanities into traditional graduate medical education on a larger scale, the preliminary findings here support the feasibility and promise of a curriculum based on the proposed integrative conceptual model.

In the Boardroom: How Do Cognitive Frames Shape American and Dutch Hospitals’ Responses to the Pressure of Adopting Governance Best Practices?

The literature on how organizations respond to institutional pressure has shown that the individual decision-makers’ interpretation of institutional pressure played an important role in developing organizational responses. However, it has paid less attention to how this interpretation ultimately contributes to their range of organizational decisions when responding to the same institutional pressure. We address this gap by interviewing board members of U.S. and Dutch hospitals involved in adopting best practices regarding board evaluation. We found four qualitatively different cognitive frames that board members relied on to interpret institutional pressure, and which shaped their organizational response. We contribute to the literature on organizational response to institutional pressure by empirically investigating how decision-makers interpret institutional pressure, by suggesting prior experience and role definition as moderating factors of multidimensional cognitive frames, and by showing how these cognitive frames influence board members’ response to the same institutional pressure.

Robot Voices in Daily Life: Vocal Human-Likeness and Application Context as Determinants of User Acceptance

The growing popularity of speech interfaces goes hand in hand with the creation of synthetic voices that sound ever more human. Previous research has been inconclusive about whether anthropomorphic design features of machines are more likely to be associated with positive user responses or, conversely, with uncanny experiences. To avoid detrimental effects of synthetic voice design, it is therefore crucial to explore what level of human realism human interactors prefer and whether their evaluations may vary across different domains of application. In a randomized laboratory experiment, 165 participants listened to one of five female-sounding robot voices, each with a different degree of human realism. We assessed how much participants anthropomorphized the voice (by subjective human-likeness ratings, a name-giving task and an imagination task), how pleasant and how eerie they found it, and to what extent they would accept its use in various domains. Additionally, participants completed Big Five personality measures and a tolerance of ambiguity scale. Our results indicate a positive relationship between human-likeness and user acceptance, with the most realistic sounding voice scoring highest in pleasantness and lowest in eeriness. Participants were also more likely to assign real human names to the voice (e.g., "Julia" instead of "T380") if it sounded more realistic. In terms of application context, participants overall indicated lower acceptance of the use of speech interfaces in social domains (care, companionship) than in others (e.g., information & navigation), though the most human-like voice was rated significantly more acceptable in social applications than the remaining four. While most personality factors did not prove influential, openness to experience was found to moderate the relationship between voice type and user acceptance such that individuals with higher openness scores rated the most human-like voice even more positively. Study results are discussed in the light of the presented theory and in relation to open research questions in the field of synthetic voice design.

Risk-Perception Change Associated with COVID-19 Vaccine's Side Effects: The Role of Individual Differences

The COVID-19 vaccine appears to be a crucial requirement to fight the pandemic. However, a part of the population possesses negative attitudes towards the vaccine. The spread of conspiracy theories and contradictory information about the pandemic have altered the population's perception of risk. The risk-perception of the vaccine's side effects may be affected by individual differences. The complex relationship between risk-perception and individual differences is relevant when people have to make decisions based on ambiguous and constantly changing information, as in the early phases of the Italian vaccination campaign. The present study aimed at measuring the effect of individual differences in risk-perception associated with the COVID-19 vaccine's side effects in a context characterized by information ambiguity. An online survey was conducted to classify a sample of Italian pro-vaccine people into cognitive/behavioral style groups. Furthermore, changes in vaccine risk-perception after inconsistent communications regarding the vaccine's side effects were compared between groups. The results showed that "analytical" individuals did not change their perception regarding the probability of vaccine side effects but changed their perception regarding the severity of side effects; "open" and "polarized" individuals neither changed their perception regarding the probability nor of the severity of side effects, showing a different kind of information processing, which could interfere with an informed decision-making process.

The association of cultural and contextual factors with social contact avoidance during the COVID-19 pandemic

As a first line of defense to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, people reduced social contacts to avoid pathogen exposure. Using a panel of countries, this research suggests that this was amplified in societies characterized by high social support and future orientation. People reacted more strongly in dense environments; government orders had more effect in high power distance societies. Conversely, a focus on accomplishments was associated with lower changes. Understanding people’s actual behaviors in response to health threats across societies is of great importance for epidemiology, public health, international business, and for the functioning of humanity as a whole.

[Distress tolerance and experience of chronic pain]

INTRODUCTION

Chronic pain is a highly prevalent condition that is associated with distressing somatic and emotional experiences. Consequently, an individual's distress tolerance, the perceived capacity to tolerate negative psychological and physical states, may influence their pain experience. This effect could be explained in part by a reduction in the catastrophic interpretation of pain which is associated with increased pain intensity and interference in everyday activities.

AIMS

The first aim of this study was to explore the association between the components of the 5-factor model of distress tolerance and (1) pain intensity and (2) pain interference in everyday activities. The secondary aim was to assess the potential mediating effect of pain catastrophizing in the eventual association between components of distress tolerance and (1) pain intensity or (2) pain interference in everyday activities.

METHOD

This is a cross-sectional study of adult (18 years or older) university students and staff with chronic pain (3 months). They were invited to complete the online questionnaire through an email invitation. Pain intensity and interference in everyday functioning were assessed with the corresponding subscales of the Brief Pain Inventory. The following instruments were used to assess the components of the 5-factor model of distress tolerance: Ambiguity Tolerance Scale (tolerance to ambiguity), Intolerance to Uncertainty Scale (reversed score: tolerance to uncertainty), Discomfort Intolerance Scale (reversed score: discomfort tolerance), Distress Tolerance Scale (tolerance to negative emotions), Frustration Discomfort Scale (tolerance to frustration). Participants also completed the Pain Catastrophizing Scale.

RESULTS

Eighty participants were recruited (57 % women, mean age=33.09; standard deviation=12,87). Tolerance to negative emotions was the only component of distress tolerance that was associated with pain (ß=-0.04; 95% CI): -0.07--0.01; t (78)=-3.06, p<0.01) or pain interference in everyday functioning (ß=-0.07; 95% CI: -0.10--0.03; t (78)=-3.97, p<0.01), independently of the others. Combined with age, these factors explained 16.2 % of the variance in pain intensity and 19.4 % of the variance in pain interference. Pain catastrophizing partially mediated the association between tolerance to negative emotions and pain interference in everyday functioning, but it was not involved in the association between tolerance to negative emotions and pain intensity.

CONCLUSION

Tolerance to negative emotions appears to be the most relevant aspect of distress tolerance in the context of chronic pain and is a potential clinical target that is independent and complementary from pain catastrophizing.

Leader Tolerance of Ambiguity: Implications for Follower Performance Outcomes in High and Low Ambiguous Work Situations

Individuals high in tolerance of ambiguity (TOA) are comfortable with, desire, and strive to manage ambiguous situations. We predicted leader TOA would be associated with better follower performance outcomes, depending on the level (Study 1) and nature (Study 2) of follower role ambiguity. Data were collected from employees (Study 1, n = 423) and managerial employees (Study 2, n = 326) who rated their leader on three facets of TOA and provided self-reports of their own performance outcomes. Positive implications of leader TOA for follower learning goal orientation and job performance (Study 1) were most pronounced when followers perceived low role ambiguity and, in the prediction of situational coping (Study 2), when ambiguous work situations were categorized as challenges (unexpected events requiring problem-solving) compared to hindrances. Findings have theoretical implications for understanding when TOA in leaders is optimal and have practical relevance for leaders seeking to adapt to the situational needs of their followers.

The politics of piracy: political ideology and the usage of pirated online media

There is a lack of clarity in information systems research on which factors lead people to use or not use technologies of varying degrees of perceived legality. To address this gap, we use arguments from the information systems and political ideology literatures to theorize on the influence of individuals’ political ideologies on online media piracy. Specifically, we hypothesize that individuals with a more conservative ideology, and thus lower openness to experience and higher conscientiousness, generally engage in less online media piracy. We further hypothesize that this effect is stronger for online piracy technology that is legally ambiguous. Using clickstream data from 3873 individuals in the U.S., we find that this effect in fact exists only for online media piracy technologies that are perceived as legally ambiguous. Specifically, more conservative individuals, who typically have lower ambiguity intolerance, use (legal but ambiguously perceived) pirated streaming websites less, while there is no difference for the (clearly illegal) use of pirated file sharing websites.

Right by your side? - the relational scope of health and wellbeing as congruence, complement and coincidence

Purpose: Although the relation between health and well-being is deemed conceptually important, it is diverse and intractable. The aim of this small-scale study is to reveal different possible relations of the concepts of health and well-being, interrelation of these relations and consequences of implied normative expectations in the relations.

Method: Primary data originate from course literature in Swedish health education. Additional data included scientific articles and website content (collected from WHO and via Google) and were analysed with objective hermeneutics.

Results: Congruent, complementary and coincident relations were found. In congruence, health and well-being are synonyms. Complement relations contain: “quality” with well-being as overall aim, “plurality” with health as umbrella term, “well-being as positive health”, “enhancement” with health and well-being potentially boosting each other and “subjectivity/objectivity” with objective health complemented by subjective well-being. In coincidence, health and well-being are counter-intuitively regarded unlinked, which may challenge expectations concerning health promotive activities. Independent and affiliated relations were identified.

Conclusion: In congruence and complement, health and well-being are mostly aligned whereas in coincidence, their quality may be decoupled. In the discursive climate of second modernity, the relation of health and well-being tends to conflict and ambiguous coincidence, demanding ambiguity tolerance as key skill.

The interplay between risk and protective factors during the initial height of the COVID-19 crisis in Italy: The role of risk aversion and intolerance of ambiguity on distress

The present study aimed to test a model of relations to ascertain the determinants of distress caused by lockdown for COVID-19. It was hypothesized that the exposure to the COVID-19 increased distress directly and through the mediation of worry, health-related information seeking, and perception of the utility of the lockdown. It was also expected that higher levels of ambiguity intolerance corresponded to higher distress directly and through the mediation of worry, health information seeking behaviors, and perceived utility of the lockdown. Finally, it was expected that risk aversion positively influenced distress directly and through the increasing of worry, health-related information seeking behavior, and more positive perception of the utility of the lockdown The study was conducted in Italy during the mandatory lockdown for COVID-19 pandemic on 240 individuals (age range 18-76). Data recruitment was conducted via snowball sampling. COVID-19 exposure was positively associated with worry and health-related information seeking. Risk-aversion was positively associated with health-related information seeking and perceived utility of the lockdown to contain the spread of the virus. Worry and health-related information seeking were positively associated with distress, whereas the perceived utility of the lockdown was negatively associated with distress. Intolerance for the ambiguity was directly linked to distress with a positive sign. Findings suggest that risk aversion represents both a risk factor and a protective factor, based on what kind of variable mediates the relationship with distress, and that the intolerance to the ambiguity is a risk factor that busters distress.

Can a pandemic make people more socially conservative? Political ideology, gender roles, and the case of COVID-19

The first months of 2020 rapidly threw people into a period of societal turmoil and pathogen threat with the COVID-19 pandemic. By promoting epistemic and existential motivational processes and activating people's behavioral immune systems, this pandemic may have changed social and political attitudes. The current research specifically asked the following question: As COVID-19 became pronounced in the United States during the pandemic's emergence, did people living there become more socially conservative? We present a repeated-measures study (N = 695) that assessed political ideology, gender role conformity, and gender stereotypes among U.S. adults before (January 25-26, 2020) versus during (March 19-April 2, 2020) the pandemic. During the pandemic, participants reported conforming more strongly to traditional gender roles and believing more strongly in traditional gender stereotypes than they did before the pandemic. Political ideology remained constant over time. These findings suggest that a pandemic may promote the preference for traditional gender roles.

The erosion of ambiguity tolerance and sustainment of perfectionism in undergraduate medical training: results from multiple samplings of a single cohort

BACKGROUND

Medicine is a field that is simultaneously factual and ambiguous. Medical students have their first exposure to full time clinical practice during clerkship. While studies have examined medical trainees' tolerance of ambiguity (TOA), the extent to which TOA is affected by clinical experiences and its association with perfectionism is unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of clerkship experience on TOA and perfectionism in medical students.

METHODS

This was a multiple sampling, single cohort study of students in their first year of clinical clerkship which is comprised of 6 core rotations. Consenting students completed an online anonymous survey assessing their tolerance of ambiguity (TOA) and perfectionism in their first (pre) and last (post) 12 weeks of their clinical clerkship year. Tolerance of Ambiguity in Medical Students and Doctors (TAMSAD) and The Big Three perfectionism scale-short form (BTPS-SF) were used to assess TOA and perfectionism respectively. Pre-Post mean comparisons of TOA and perfectionism were assessed via t-tests.

RESULTS

From a cohort of 174 clinical clerkship students, 51 students responded to pre-survey, 62 responded to post-survey. Clerkship was associated with a significant decrease in TOA (p < 0.00) with mean pre-TOA scores of 59.57 and post TOA of 43.8. Perfectionism scores were not significantly different over time (p > 0.05). There was a moderate inverse correlation between TOA and perfectionism before clerkship (r = 0.32) that increased slightly after clerkship (r = 0.39). Those preferring primary care specialties had significantly lower rigid and total perfectionism scores in pre-clerkship than those choosing other specialties, but this difference was not found post-clerkship.

CONCLUSION

Exposure to clerkship decreased TOA while perfectionism remained stable in medical students. These results were not expected as exposure has been previously shown to increase TOA. The frequency of rotation changes maintaining a cycle of anxiety may be an underlying factor accounting for these results. Overall these results require further investigation to better characterize the role of clinical exposure on TOA.

The Structural Relationship among Career-Related Mentoring, Ambiguity Tolerance, and Job Search Effort and Behavior of Korean College Students

Although a substantial body of mentoring research has been conducted on students attending four-year colleges, the interplay of career-related mentoring, ambiguity tolerance, and job search effort and behavior has not been seriously investigated. Therefore, we examined the relationship between career-related mentoring and ambiguity tolerance, as well as job search effort and behavior, for the purpose of understanding how to better assist undergraduate college students achieve preliminary job search success. Data were collected via pencil surveys administered to 300 undergraduate students selected by purposive sampling from four colleges in Seoul, Korea. Correlation analysis and covariance structure analysis were conducted to examine the relationships between variables. A Sobel test was also conducted to check the mediation effect of the model. Results were consistent with our hypotheses and showed that there was a significant, indirect, positive effect of career-related mentoring on job search effort and behavior, mediated through ambiguity tolerance. Our study contributes to career-related mentoring and job search research by providing empirical evidence supporting the results. It has implications for universities, mentoring program design, and career guidance professionals.

Managing strategic paradoxes: the influence of demographic characteristics of decision-makers

Purpose

Together with increasing ambiguity and frequency of changes, management becomes full of seemingly conflicting choices, i.e. paradoxes, coming up in the process of decision-making. Successful management of paradoxes, i.e. treating them as “both/and” constructs leads to innovative solutions and better overall organizational performance. In response to a significant research gap regarding antecedents of managing paradoxes, the aim of the paper is to investigate how individual characteristics of strategic decision-makers, specifically their age, tenure and educational background, affect the ability to combine contradictions in their strategic choices.

Design/methodology/approach

An empirical study was conducted among 201 managers representing furniture companies in Poland. The CATI technique with an interview questionnaire was adopted in order to identify respondents' opinions on the main features, traits and dimensions of the strategy implemented in their companies. Participants' tenure, age and education were measured by single items.

Findings

The study suggests that the ability to manage paradoxes increases with age and tenure in a company and at a current position. At the same time economic/business educational background appears to be unsupportive in this regard.

Originality/value

While the issue of managing paradoxes energizes researchers in various disciplines, we still do not know much about antecedents of the process. The study shed light on effects that managers' demographics have on their ability of managing paradoxes. It contributes to the theory on strategic paradoxes as well as theory on the influence of decision-makers' individual characteristics on their decisions.

Reviews Left and Right: The Link Between Reviewers’ Political Ideology and Online Review Language

Online reviews, i.e., evaluations of products and services posted on websites, are ubiquitous. Prior research observed substantial variance in the language of such online reviews and linked it to downstream consequences like perceived helpfulness. However, the understanding of why the language of reviews varies is limited. This is problematic because it might have vital implications for the design of IT systems and user interactions. To improve the understanding of online review language, the paper proposes that consumers’ personality, as reflected in their political ideology, is a predictor of such online review language. Specifically, it is hypothesized that reviewers’ political ideology as measured by degree of conservatism on a liberal–conservative spectrum is negatively related to review depth (the number of words and the number of arguments in a review), cognitively complex language in reviews, diversity of arguments, and positive valence in language. Support for these hypotheses is obtained through the analysis of a unique dataset that links a sample of online reviews to reviewers’ political ideology as inferred from their online news consumption recorded in clickstream data.

Self-affirmation enhances the processing of uncertainty: An event-related potential study

We proposed that self-affirmation can endow people with more cognitive resource to cope with uncertainty. We tested this possibility with an event-related potential (ERP) study by examining how self-affirmation influences ambiguous feedback processing in a simple gambling task, which was used to investigate risk decision-making. We assigned 48 participants randomly to the affirmation and non-affirmation (i.e., control) groups. All participants accepted the manipulation first and then completed the gambling task with an electroencephalogram (EEG) recording, in which participants might receive a positive (winning), negative (losing), or ambiguous (unknown valence) outcome after they made a choice. We considered both the feedback-related negativity (FRN) and P3 components elicited by the outcome feedback, which reflected the amount of cognitive resources being invested in the early and late stages of the outcome feedback processing, respectively. ERP results showed that ambiguous feedback elicited a larger FRN among affirmed participants than unaffirmed participants but exerted no influence on the P3. This finding suggests that self-affirmation may help coping with uncertainty by enhancing the early processing of uncertainty.

Stressed decision makers and use of decision aids: a literature review and conceptual model

Purpose

Decision making is inherently stressful since the decision maker must choose between potentially conflicting alternatives with unique hazards and uncertain outcomes. Whereas decision aids such as decision support systems (DSS) can be beneficial in stressful scenarios, decision makers sometimes misuse them during decision making, leading to suboptimal outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between stress, decision making and decision aid use.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conduct an extensive multi-disciplinary review of decision making and DSS use through the lens of stress and examine how stress, as perceived by decision makers, impacts their use or misuse of DSS even when such aids can improve decision quality. Research questions examine underlying sources of stress in managerial decision making that influence decision quality, relationships between a decision maker’s perception of stress, DSS use/misuse, and decision quality, and implications for research and practice on DSS design and capabilities.

Findings

The study presents a conceptual model that provides an integrative behavioral view of the impact of a decision maker’s perceived stress on their use of a DSS and the quality of their decisions. The authors identify critical knowledge gaps and propose a research agenda to improve decision quality and use of DSS by considering a decision maker’s perceived stress.

Originality/value

This study provides a previously unexplored view of DSS use and misuse as shaped by the decision and job stress experienced by decision makers. Through the application of four theories, the review and its findings highlight key design principles that can mitigate the negative effects of stressors on DSS use.

THE PERCEPTION OF CREATIVITY THROUGH MULTICULTURAL EXPERIENCE — RESULTS FROM AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

This research is an approach to connect creativity and multicultural experiences (MCEs): we give insights into how and what type of MCE influences people’s perceptive abilities such as creativity. We offer one of the first empirical examinations that links the perception of creativity concept to strategy of acculturation. This study addresses an often-mentioned research gap by examining laypersons’ ability to perceive different levels of creativity. For this, a sample of 195 participants from 26 countries with and without MCE was researched. Findings indicate that attitudes as well as personal and professional goals apparently influence people’s creativity perception. The acculturation strategy integration seems to be a determining factor in this respect. As MCE has become a firm part of many people’s CV, the present paper adds to an omnipresent phenomenon in today’s society, which is worth studying.

Compensatory and Catalyzing Beliefs: Their Relationship to Pro-environmental Behavior and Behavioral Spillover in Seven Countries

There is growing research interest in behavioral spillover and its potential for enabling more widespread lifestyle change than has typically been achieved through discrete behavioral interventions. There are some routes by which spillover could take place without conscious attention or explicit recognition of the connections between separate behaviors. However, in many cases there is an expectation that an individual will perceive behaviors to be conceptually related, specifically in terms of their compensatory (suppressing further action) or catalyzing (promoting further action) properties, as a prerequisite for both negative and positive spillover. Despite this, relatively little research has been carried out to assess the beliefs that may underpin spillover processes as held by individuals themselves, or to measure these directly. We develop and evaluate a survey-based instrument for this purpose, doing so in a sample of seven countries worldwide: Brazil, China, Denmark, India, Poland, South Africa, and the United Kingdom (approx. 1,000 respondents per country). This approach allows us to assess these measures and to compare findings between countries. As part of this, we consider the connections between beliefs about behavioral relationships, and other key variables such as pro-environmental identity and personal preferences. We observe higher levels of endorsement of compensatory beliefs than previous research, and even higher levels of endorsement of novel items assessing catalyzing beliefs. For the first time, we present evidence of the validity of such measures with respect to comparable constructs, and in relation to people's consistency across different types of behaviors. We reflect on the implications of considering the relationships between behaviors in the context of people's subjective beliefs and offer recommendations for developing this line of research in the broader context of spillover research and within a cross-cultural framework.

Phonological Ambiguity Detection Outside of Consciousness and Its Defensive Avoidance

Freud proposes that in unconscious processing, logical connections are also (heavily) based upon phonological similarities. Repressed concerns, for example, would also be expressed by way of phonologic ambiguity. In order to investigate a possible unconscious influence of phonological similarity, 31 participants were submitted to a tachistoscopic subliminal priming experiment, with prime and target presented at 1 ms. In the experimental condition, the prime and one of the 2 targets were phonological reversed forms of each other, though graphemically dissimilar (e.g., “nice” and “sign”); in the control condition the targets were pseudo-randomly attributed to primes to which they don't belong. The experimental task was to “blindly” pick the choice most similar to the prime. ERPs were measured with a focus on the N320, which is known to react selectively to phonological mismatch in supraliminal visual word presentations. The N320 amplitude-effects at the electrodes on the midline and at the left of the brain significantly predicted the participants' net behavioral choices more than half a second later, while their subjective experience is one of arbitrariness. Moreover, the social desirability score (SDS) significantly correlates with both the behavioral and the N320 brain responses of the participants. It is proposed that in participants with low SDS the phonological target induces an expected reduction of N320 and this increases their probability to pick this target. In contrast, high defensive participants have a perplexed brain reaction upon the phonological target, with a negatively peaking N320 as compared to control and this leads them to avoid this target more often. Social desirability, which is understood as reflecting defensiveness, might also manifest itself as a defense against the (energy-consuming) ambiguity of language. The specificity of this study is that all of this is happening totally out of awareness and at the level of very elementary linguistic distinctions.

Attitudes towards Ambiguity in Japanese Healthy Volunteers

Multi-dimensional structure of the Attitudes Towards Ambiguity Scale (ATAS: original Japanese version) and its relationship with the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ) were investigated. We administered the ATAS and the Japanese version of the AAQ to 1019 Japanese healthy volunteers (513 females and 506 males; age range 18–78 years). Trial of exploratory factor analysis extracted four distinct clusters (Enjoyment; α = .83, Anxiety; α = .75, Exclusion; α = .75, and Noninterference; α = .65) from the ATAS item pool, suggestive of diversity in cognitive/ emotional/ behavioral responses to ambiguity. Confirmative factor analysis showed similar goodness in fit indices between the new four-factor model in the present study and the original five-factor model in our previous study (Nishimura 2007). Considering interpretability by using large number of representative samples with general population in the present study, we adopted the four-factor model. The ATAS Anxiety subscale was negatively correlated with the AAQ willingness subscale (r = −.39, p < .001), while the ATAS Enjoyment subscale was positively correlated with the AAQ Action subscale (r = .40, p < .001). It is thus suggested that one who enjoys ambiguous situations can adopt two distinct attitudes: Excluding ambiguity from active resolution, or not interfering with ambiguity due to good tolerance of this experience, which can lead to positive and flexible commitments in life. In contrast, one who tends to be anxious about ambiguity may be characterized by exclusion-based attitudes due to intolerance of ambiguity, leading to lowered acceptance of their feelings and of the reality of circumstances. Cognitive/emotional attitudes towards ambiguity may affect acceptance of inner experience and active commitment to reality.

Efficacy and Moderation of Mobile App-Based Programs for Mindfulness-Based Training, Self-Compassion Training, and Cognitive Behavioral Psychoeducation on Mental Health: Randomized Controlled Noninferiority Trial

BACKGROUND

Mindfulness-based interventions, self-compassion training, and cognitive behavioral therapy have garnered much evidence in its salutary effects on mental health. With increasing application of smartphone and mobile technology on health promotion, this study investigated the efficacy and possible moderators of mindfulness, self-compassion, and cognitive behavioral psychoeducation training mobile apps in the improvement of mental health.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to examine the efficacy of 3 mobile app-based programs: mindfulness-based program, self-compassion program, and cognitive behavioral psychoeducation program in improving mental well-being and reducing psychological distress. Changes in mindful awareness and self-compassion were also assessed. To further delineate the suitability of each program for different types of individuals, individual difference variables (ie, discomfort with emotions and tolerance for ambiguity) were explored for potential moderation.

METHODS

This study was a 3-arm, randomized, controlled, noninferiority trial examining the efficacy of mindfulness-based program, self-compassion program, and cognitive behavioral psychoeducation. Participants were randomized into either 1 of the 3 conditions. Throughout the 4-week, 28-session program, participants spent 10-15 min daily reviewing the course content and practicing various related exercises. At preprogram, postprogram, and 3-month follow-up, participants also completed Web-based measures of mental well-being, psychological distress, mindful-awareness, and self-compassion as well as the proposed moderators.

RESULTS

Among the 2161 study participants, 508 and 349 completed the post- and 3-month follow-up assessment, respectively. All 3 conditions (mindfulness-based program: N=703; cognitive behavioral psychoeducation: N=753; self-compassion program: N=705) were found to be efficacious in improving mental well-being and reducing psychological distress. All conditions enhanced mindful awareness at postprogram. Significant interaction effect was found on self-compassion; cognitive behavioral psychoeducation and self-compassion program, but not mindfulness-based program, significantly enhanced self-compassion at postprogram. No significant differences regarding usage and users' satisfaction were found among the 3 conditions. None of the proposed moderators were found to be significant.

CONCLUSIONS

Mindfulness-based, self-compassion, and cognitive behavioral psychoeducation mobile apps were efficacious in improving mental well-being and reducing psychological distress among adults at postprogram and 3-month follow-up. Future app-based psychological training programs should consider gamification and personalization of content or feedback to enhance engagement and mitigate the high attrition rates that are common in app-based health promotion programs.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR) ChiCTR-TRC-13003468; http://www.chictr.org.cn/hvshowproject.aspx?id=6220 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/734PlOz50).

Individual Differences in Uncertainty Tolerance Are not Associated With Cognitive Control Functions in the Flanker Task

Abstract. Cognitive control refers to the ability to make correct decisions concurrent to distracting information, and to adapt to conflicting stimulus configurations, eventually promoting goal-directed behavior. Previous research has linked individual differences in cognitive control to psychopathological conditions such as anxiety. However, a link with uncertainty tolerance (UT) has not been tested so far, although both constructs describe cognitive and behavioral performance in ambiguous situations, thus they share some similarities. We probed cognitive control in web-based experimentation (jsPsych) with a simple flanker task (N = 111) and a version without confounds in episodic memory (N = 116). Both experiments revealed two well-established behavioral indices: congruency effects (CEs) and congruency-sequence effects (CSEs). Only small-to-zero correlations emerged between CEs, UT, and need for cognitive closure (NCC), a personality trait inversely related to UT. A subtle correlation (r = .18) was noted in Experiment 2 between NCC and CSE. Throughout, Bayesian analyses provided anecdotal-to-moderate evidence for the null-hypotheses.

Corporate entrepreneurship strategy: an analysis of top management teams in SMEs

Purpose

In order to learn more about the antecedents of strategy at the top management team’s (TMT) level, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of TMT cultural intelligence on corporate entrepreneurship strategy. Then, the authors examine how TMT’s ambiguity tolerance mediates this relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors tested the hypothesis by collecting survey data from 41 TMTs of small- and medium-sized enterprises in the south-east of Iran.

Findings

The survey results confirm that a high level of cultural intelligence in TMTs is conducive to corporate entrepreneurship. Furthermore, the result shows that higher levels of cultural intelligence in TMTs relate to a higher level of ambiguity tolerance, which, in turn, enhances the possibility of pursuing corporate entrepreneurship strategy by SMEs.

Research limitations/implications

The data for this study were obtained from 41 TMTs in the south-east of Iran, which increases the probability that the results may not be directly transferable to certain companies in Western countries. Future research might attempt to test the ideas developed in this paper across different settings and samples.

Originality/value

Several theoretical and empirical studies have explored possible antecedents of corporate entrepreneurship. But a few papers investigated the role of TMT dispositions on corporate entrepreneurship strategy. By addressing the prominent role of TMT psychological dispositions on corporate entrepreneurship strategy, this paper attempts to fill this gap.

A multi-level framework for understanding global talent management systems for high talent expatriates within and across subsidiaries of MNEs

Purpose

Researchers and practitioners are interested in developing frameworks that can improve the understanding of the emerging field of global talent management (GTM) within and across the subsidiaries of multinational enterprises (MNEs). A few studies have proposed such frameworks but only implicitly include constructs at different levels of analysis. This paper is a step toward bridging the gap. Grounded in multi-level theory, international human resources management (IHRM) frameworks, and the ability-motivation-opportunity model, the purpose of this paper is to develop a multi-level framework that describes the processes through which antecedents at four levels of analysis affect a subsidiary’s GTM system, which in turn directly affects outcomes at three levels of analysis.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper develops a multi-level framework that describes the processes through which antecedents at four levels of analysis affect a subsidiary’s GTM system. Along with including four levels of analysis and highlighting cross-level interactions in our proposed multi-level framework, several testable propositions are offered.

Findings

The framework developed in this paper depicts the causal relationship between the subsidiary IHRM strategy (subsidiary level) and subsidiary GTM system (subsidiary level), and the several moderating variables that specify conditions under which the subsidiary IHRM Strategy affects a subsidiary GTM system. The moderator variables include national culture distance (country level), MNE headquarters (HQ) orientation (MNE HQ level), and the required dynamic cross-cultural competencies (expatriate level). In addition, the framework shows the outcomes of a subsidiary’s GTM system across three levels: knowledge transfer (MNE HQ level), localization (subsidiary level), and cross-cultural learning (expatriate level). In the context of multi-level analyses (the authors discuss this next), the framework shows several top-down processes (e.g. P2, P4 and P5) and several bottom-up processes (e.g. P3 and P7).

Research limitations/implications

The proposed multi-level framework describes important antecedents and outcomes of a subsidiary’s GTM system, and proposes several propositions for future empirical and theoretical research that could be the focus of a systematic research program and agenda on GTM in subsidiaries. In addition, the proposed framework enables us to advance the GTM literature by improving the understanding of and offering insights about the GTM system of a subsidiary, and specifically contribute to research in IHRM and GTM in a number of ways.

Practical implications

Existing scholarly GTM frameworks used by practitioners do not take into account the multi-level complexities that exist when a subsidiary IHRM strategy may not align with the subsidiary GTM system. As such, both practitioners and researchers would benefit by adopting a multi-level framework that accounts for these complexities and how they interact with one another to influence the way subsidiaries manage their expatriate talent.

Originality/value

By using multi-level theory to examine subsidiary GTM systems, the authors advance both the GTM literature and the IHRM literature. Overall, this paper attempts to shift the focus of each subsidiary’s GTM system to a broader, multi-level perspective and contribute to new theory building in GTM research, specifically in subsidiary GTM-MNE research and provide some thoughtful suggestions for HR practitioners wanting to enhance the effectiveness of their MNEs.