Worry is underpinned by persistence in searching uninformative avenues
Abstract
Worry is common both in mental health and distress. What, then, distinguishes pathological worry? We hypothesized that what characterizes pathological worry is excessive internal search that fails to resolve uncertainty; i.e., is uninformative. In an information sampling paradigm, increased sampling was predicted both by trait (p = .018) and—more powerfully—state worry (p < .001). An information-poor environment significantly increased sampling in high worriers (p < 0.001, CrI 1.1% inside Region of Practical Equivalence defined as <0.2 SD), but not low worriers (p = 0.480, CrI 68.2% in ROPE). Crucially, this increase in sampling in high worriers did not increase their accuracy (CrI 97.5% inside ROPE). A ‘sampling until success’ heuristic was identified as a driver. Stimulus uncertainty and aversiveness had similar effects on sampling and worry, increasing both (p < 0.001). Persistent searching—in the face of irreducible uncertainty—may therefore be a key mechanism behind worry, differentiating high from low worrying.
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BibTeX
@misc{low2026worry,
title = {{Worry is underpinned by persistence in searching uninformative avenues}},
author = {Alexis An Yee Low and Karl Friston and Michael Moutoussis},
howpublished = {PsyArXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.31234/osf.io/2cmgw_v2},
url = {https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/2cmgw_v2/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Worry is underpinned by persistence in searching uninformative avenues
AU - Alexis An Yee Low
AU - Karl Friston
AU - Michael Moutoussis
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/13
PB - PsyArXiv
DO - 10.31234/osf.io/2cmgw_v2
UR - https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/2cmgw_v2/
AB - Worry is common both in mental health and distress. What, then, distinguishes pathological worry? We hypothesized that what characterizes pathological worry is excessive internal search that fails to resolve uncertainty; i.e., is uninformative. In an information sampling paradigm, increased sampling was predicted both by trait (p = .018) and—more powerfully—state worry (p < .001). An information-poor environment significantly increased sampling in high worriers (p < 0.001, CrI 1.1% inside Region of Practical Equivalence defined as <0.2 SD), but not low worriers (p = 0.480, CrI 68.2% in ROPE). Crucially, this increase in sampling in high worriers did not increase their accuracy (CrI 97.5% inside ROPE). A ‘sampling until success’ heuristic was identified as a driver. Stimulus uncertainty and aversiveness had similar effects on sampling and worry, increasing both (p < 0.001). Persistent searching—in the face of irreducible uncertainty—may therefore be a key mechanism behind worry, differentiating high from low worrying.
ER -