The Two Faces of Uncertainty Avoidance: Attachment and Adaptation

The authors used a sample of 155 field sales personnel from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand to examine attachment and adaptation as two ways of addressing individual uncertainty avoidance. Results suggest that both attachment and adaptation are used to reduce uncertainty avoidance in the workplace. Individuals low on uncertainty avoidance had no need to attach with their group or adapt to their environment. Those high on uncertainty avoidance used both techniques to deal with risk. Individuals reporting moderate levels of uncertainty avoidance primarily used adaptation rather than attachment to deal with risk.