Temporal Dynamics of Uncertainty Cause Anxiety and Avoidance

Alfred Hitchcock, a master of eliciting anxious apprehension, observed that suspense is not driven by a negative event, but “only in the anticipation of it.” This observation is not restricted to the movies: Anxiety builds when we anticipate uncertain negative events, and heightened reactivity during uncertain-threat anticipation is a transdiagnostic marker of anxiety. Here, we manipulate the temporal dynamics of an uncertain threat to demonstrate how the evolving expectation of threat can lead people to forgo rewards and experience anxiety. Specifically, we show that increased "hazard rate" can lead to anxiety and the associated tendency to avoid threatening contexts. These results provide insight into why the anticipation of temporally uncertain threats makes people anxious, and reframe the underlying causes of anxiety and anxiety-related psychopathology.