Home1
Psychological tests2
Multiple Stimulus Types Ambiguity Tolerance Scale-I (MSTAT-I)3

Multiple Stimulus Types Ambiguity Tolerance Scale-I (MSTAT-I) Test

In 5 minutes, see whether you stay calm with uncertainty or need firm structure and clear control. Get fast, actionable insight for work, school, and relationships as change hits.

Start Online Test

Questions: 225 minutes

08:30

October 2, 2025

October 2, 2025
Material has been updated

October 2, 2025
Material has been published

15,839 views

1,165 completions

951 likes

Verified by Daniel Hall

Psychologist with 25 years of experience

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

example score

51/63

Attitudes Toward Ambiguous Situations (ATAS)

Measures how comfortable a person feels and how flexibly they respond in situations that are unclear or unpredictable.

Low tolerance

Moderate tolerance

High tolerance

9 – 25: Low tolerance | 26 – 43: Moderate tolerance | 44 – 63: High tolerance

A score of 51 falls in the High tolerance range, suggesting you generally stay calm and adapt effectively when situations are ambiguous or change unexpectedly.

example score

33/49

Attitudes Toward Complex Tasks (ATCT)

Measures how willing a person is to engage with complex, ambiguous tasks rather than avoid them.

Avoids challenge

Selective engagement

Embraces challenge

7 – 23: Avoids challenge | 24 – 39: Selective engagement | 40 – 49: Embraces challenge

A score of 33 suggests a moderate tendency to take on challenging tasks, with comfort increasing when goals or constraints are reasonably clear.

example score

9/21

Attitude Toward Novelty (ATN)

Measures how positively a person relates to new, unfamiliar situations and their willingness to experiment versus preferring the familiar.

Cautious with novelty

Balanced

Open to novelty

3 – 8: Cautious with novelty | 9 – 17: Balanced | 18 – 21: Open to novelty

A score of 9 falls in the Balanced range, suggesting a generally neutral-to-positive stance toward new situations with some preference for predictability in certain contexts.

example score

38/77

Acceptance vs. Avoidance of Uncertainty (AvAoU)

Assesses the extent to which a person tends to accept rather than avoid uncertain or ambiguous situations.

Avoids uncertainty

Mixed / situational

Accepts uncertainty

11 – 32: Avoids uncertainty | 33 – 55: Mixed / situational | 56 – 77: Accepts uncertainty

A score of 38 falls in the mixed range, suggesting a generally situational approach where uncertainty may be manageable in some contexts but still prompts a preference for clarity in others.

example score

46/77

Preference for Uncertainty (PfU)

Measures how strongly a person prefers uncertain, open-ended situations versus seeking clear and predictable outcomes.

Prefers certainty

Balanced

Prefers uncertainty

11 – 36: Prefers certainty | 37 – 59: Balanced | 60 – 77: Prefers uncertainty

A score of 46 falls in the Balanced range, suggesting moderate comfort with ambiguity while still valuing structure and predictability in some situations.

example score

104/154

Tolerance for Ambiguity (TfA)

Measures how comfortably a person can accept and function in ambiguous, complex, or unpredictable situations without excessive stress.

Low tolerance

Moderate tolerance

High tolerance

22 – 72: Low tolerance | 73 – 112: Moderate tolerance | 113 – 154: High tolerance

A score of 104 falls in the Moderate tolerance range, suggesting you generally cope with uncertainty reasonably well while still preferring clarity in some situations.

Start Online Test

just completed the test

DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Change and transition seekers

41%OF USERS

People facing a new job, move, breakup, or other life shift who want to understand how calmly they handle uncertainty and surprises.

Students and early career

34%OF USERS

Those choosing a major or career path who want to see whether they prefer clear rules or feel comfortable in open-ended, ambiguous tasks.

Managers and HR specialists

25%OF USERS

Leaders and recruiters using the results to understand how a person reacts to unclear goals, shifting priorities, and change at work.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

Attitude Towards Ambiguous Situations (ATAS)

Average

27.6

Normal range

17.9 — 37.3

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Attitude Towards Challenging Tasks (ATCT)

Average

21.5

Normal range

15.9 — 27.1

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Attitude Towards Novelty (ATN)

Average

9.3

Normal range

6.8 — 11.9

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Acceptance/Avoidance of Uncertainty (AoU)

Average

44.8

Normal range

35.6 — 53.9

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Preference for Uncertainty (PfU)

Average

57.5

Normal range

45 — 69.9

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Tolerance for Uncertainty (TfU)

Average

Normal range

58.8 — 93.1

min.

max.

154

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Start Online Test

Featured On

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Somewhat disagree
- Neither agree nor disagree
- Somewhat agree
- Agree
- Strongly agree
- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Somewhat disagree
- Neither agree nor disagree
- Somewhat agree
- Agree
- Strongly agree
- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Somewhat disagree
- Neither agree nor disagree
- Somewhat agree
- Agree
- Strongly agree

These are 3 of the 22 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

Start Online Test

WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

About This Assessment

Multiple Stimulus Types Ambiguity Tolerance Scale-I (MSTAT-I) Test - Symptoms and Signs

uncertainty

tolerance

This measure evaluates individual differences in responses to ambiguous or uncertain situations. The Multiple Stimulus Types Ambiguity Tolerance Scale-I (MSTAT-I) is a brief self-report instrument intended to assess comfort with, or avoidance of, ambiguity in everyday contexts.

The instrument consists of 22 items and typically requires about 5 minutes to complete. It is commonly used in research and applied assessment settings to characterize ambiguity tolerance as a dispositional variable that may be relevant to decision-making, flexibility in changing circumstances, and preference for structure; it is not a diagnostic test. The Multiple Stimulus Types Ambiguity Tolerance Scale-I (MSTAT-I) was developed by Stanley Budner and David J. McLain.

Author: David J. McLain, Stanley Budner

Literature: Budner, S. Intolerance of ambiguity as a personality variable. Journal of Personality. 1962.; McLain, D. L. Evidence of the properties of an ambiguity tolerance measure: The Multiple Stimulus Types Ambiguity Tolerance Scale-II (MSTAT-II). Psychological Reports. 2009.; Furnham, A., & Marks, J. Tolerance of ambiguity: A review of the recent literature. Psychology. 2013.; McLain, D. L. The MSTAT-I: A new measure of an individual's tolerance for ambiguity. Educational and Psychological Measurement. 1993.