Learning To Live With Uncertainty
There seems to be one main question lingering around everyone’s minds these days. How much longer do we need to live like this? How much longer will this uncertainty prevail? While experts may still not be able to give a definite answer, we can learn a few things or two from this situation.
First, Trump announced on March 16th that there would be a 15 day ban until the end of month. Then, the shelter in place order was extended until April 30th. Now, under the spotlight of heart-wrenching news worldwide, we can’t even have an expectation for when things will go back to normal.
While it’s been hard for most of us to distinguish a day from one other under this ongoing quarantine, this has got us interested in the mere concept of uncertainty. It is a known fact that some tend to receive and tolerate it better, while for others it triggers their anxiety even more. Some people are much more risk takers, entrepreneurs, and may feel more comfortable venturing into unbeaten paths while others are more risk-averse and analyze it more rationally.
Have you ever heard of Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI)? Professor Geert Hofstede has been conducting research on cultural dimensions theory under IBM employees in 40 countries between 1967 and 1973 and he has come up with a framework for ensuring better cross-cultural communication.
His framework proposes four dimensions: individualism-collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance and masculinity-femininity. His work was later frequently used by managers to understand the differences between workforces in different countries.
In today’s COVID-19 crisis, it seems defiantly important to focus on the Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI). Hofstede came up with this index to measure a society’s tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty. It indicates the extent to which a culture’s member feels comfortable in midst of uncertain situations. For example, the US has one of the lowest scores on uncertainty avoidance index and this fact actually reflects in the country’s more welcoming to embrace new ventures, technologies and business models. Accordingly, the individualism in the US ranks the highest among different countries — at 91. This individualism is inevitably followed by another component: loneliness.
Maybe it is worth reminding yourself:
It’s not just you, it’s the culture you grew up in.
Although our society has gone through other rough patches like this current COVID-19 crisis before, it is understandable that not everyone will feel equally at ease in such uncertain situations and we’re glad we can scientifically explain this.
Reading about the differences in handling uncertain situations among different countries help us because the culture in which we were raised shares the responsibility for our ways of responding to uncertainty.
A few things we can always do to help us tolerate the uncertainty in mindful ways during these hard times remain breath work, journaling, meditation, talking about your feelings and problems to your therapist, friend or Ashley.
We hope you’re staying well, healthy and safe.
You can always download Ashley on your app store and talk to her for free: bit.ly/ashleyvoice
