Communication in the management of uncertainty: The case of persons living with HIV or AIDS

TLDR

Communication helps manage uncertainty, yet information seeking can both reduce and increase uncertainty, and people living with HIV face high levels of uncertainty about their illness. Focus group participants described effective strategies for managing uncertainty, noting that new information can aid reappraisal even without reducing ambiguity, and the study proposes a theory of uncertainty management.

Abstract

Communication is a means of managing uncertainty. In a state of uncertainty: (a) information seeking can reduce uncertainty by allowing for better discrimination between or among alternatives; (b) information seeking can increase uncertainty by increasing the number of alternatives, or by blurring the distinction between or among alternatives; and (c) information avoidance can maintain uncertainty. Individuals living with HIV or AIDS, like many other chronically‐ill or terminally‐ill individuals, must manage high levels of uncertainty about their illness. Participants in a focus group study of persons with HIV or AIDS reported effective uncertainty management, including managing uncertainty that was challenging, managing uncertainty that was essential for maintaining hope, learning to live with chronic uncertainty, and managing information problems. New information can serve uncertainty management even if it fails to reduce the number or ambiguity of alternatives, because new information can invite a reappraisal of uncertainty. A theory of uncertainty management based on these findings is offered.