Intercultural contact under uncertainty: The impact of predictability and anxiety on the willingness to interact with a member from an unknown cultural group

Based on the anxiety/uncertainty management theory (Gudykunst, 2005), the authors posit that the willingness to interact with a member of a foreign culture depends on the incidental affective state of an individual and the predictability of the potential interaction partner. It is hypothesized that individuals who experience an incidental affective state of anxiety are less willing to interact with a potential interaction partner they expect to be poorly predictable, than with a potential interaction partner they expect to be easily predictable, while the impact of predictability is reduced when individuals experience a more secure affective state. The hypotheses were tested in an experimental study (N = 80) in which the predictability of a potential interaction partner and the incidental anxiety of the participants were varied. The results support the basic assumptions of the authors.