TITLE:
Developing and Validating a Japanese Version of the Multidimensional Attitude toward Ambiguity Scale (MAAS)
AUTHORS:
Jimpei Hitsuwari, Michio Nomura
KEYWORDS:
Multidimensional Attitude Toward Ambiguity, Ambiguity Tolerance, Intolerance of Uncertainty, Need for Cognitive Closure, Cross-Cultural Research
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.12 No.4,
April
12,
2021
ABSTRACT: As the COVID-19 pandemic clearly shows, we
are living in an age of uncertainty and ambiguity. This study develops a Japanese
version of the Multidimensional Attitude toward Ambiguity Scale (MAAS), which
was originally developed by Lauriola et al. (2016) and has better psychometrics
and reproducibility than previously developed personality trait scales for
ambiguity. It assesses three factors: discomfort with ambiguity, moral
absolutism/splitting, and need for complexity and novelty. To test our newly
developed MAAS, we asked 347 participants (147 females and 200 males, =39.07, =10.58) to complete a back-translated Japanese version of the
MAAS online. The Japanese version was found to have sufficient or good internal
consistency, retest reliability, and construct validity. We newly found that
there were correlations between attitudes toward ambiguity and several scales
(e.g., subscales of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire and the Minimalist
Well-Being Scale), and that there are differences in the scores of our Japanese
study participants and the Italian samples in the literature. We hope that our
Japanese version of the MAAS will be actively used in future cross-cultural
comparative research.