The mediator role of resilience in the prediction of intolerance of uncertainty by the five-factor traits

The general purpose of the current study was to test the mediating role of resilience in predicting the level of intolerance of uncertainty in personality traits of the police officers in the service department of a security directorate. Correlational research design of non-experimental quantitative method was the design of the study. The Big Five Inventory, Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale and Brief Resilience Scale were employed as data collecting instruments. Chosen by convenient sampling, the participants, ranging in age from 19 to 55, were 602 (540 males, 62 females) personnel in the service department in a security directorate in a medium-scaled city in the Black Sea Region, Turkey. Data were analyzed via IBM SPSS 22 and IBM AMOS 24. Regression weights among five-factor personality traits, intolerance of uncertainty and resilience were examined through structural equation modelling. Independent samples t-test was performed to find if there was a significant difference by marital status in each variable. The results indicated that the subscales of the Big-Five, namely extraversion, openness, conscientiousness and agreeableness positively predicted psychological resilience whereas only neuroticism showed negative significant prediction. Similarly, resilience significantly negatively predicted intolerance of uncertainty. Upon testing the mediating roles, psychological resilience was found to be a full mediator between extraversion and conscientiousness, and intolerance of uncertainty whereas it partially mediated between neuroticism and conscientiousness, and intolerance of uncertainty. The police officers were also tested by marital status for intolerance of uncertainty and no significant differences were found except that resilience was larger in the singles than in the married. The results of the current study, which aimed to examine what extent the Big Five Personality Traits predicted intolerance of uncertainty, were summarized and discussed along with suggestions for practitioners and researchers and it is expected to contribute to further studies. Key words: Personality, Intolerance of Uncertainty, Resilience