Interpersonal Duty as a Tool for Managing Uncertainty: Uncertainty Threat Changes Negative Affect Reaction Toward Duty Adherence/Violation

Abstract

We investigated changes in negative affect reactions toward interpersonal duty violation/adherence under uncertainty which we refer to as uncertainty threat. One’s feelings of duty and obligation toward the partner may induce him/her to act in accordance to the partner’s expectations, and this functions to free the relationship of uncertainty. However, if the partner fails to conform to his/her duty, we may become uncertain about the future of the relationship, and consequently, experience negative affect, including anger, contempt, and disappointment. We hypothesized that uncertainty threat leads to such negative affective arousal. Uncertainty threat motivates individuals to reduce uncertainty, and hence make them more sensitive toward the source of uncertainty, above and beyond the specific context in which it poses a threat. A series of three experiments were conducted, in which we manipulated uncertainty threat through priming and a distractor task. Participants then read a short scenario in which duty violation or adherence were described, and rated negative affect toward it. Results generally indicated significant interaction effects across the experiments. The effects of scenario manipulation on negative affect reaction were more acute under uncertainty threat than when no threat was present. The present study indicated that duty was not only beneficial for social coordination, but also vital to mask uncertainty and insecurity regarding relationships.