Certainty Deficiency: Affective Insecurity and Compensatory Behavior in Response to Ambiguous Emotional Cues in Close Relationships

This paper proposes Certainty Deficiency, a new integrative psychological concept describing emotional anxiety and compensatory behaviors that arise from ambiguous or inconsistent emotional cues in close relationships. Drawing from attachment theory, rejection sensitivity, and cognitive-affective neuroscience, this framework explains how uncertainty in interpersonal signals leads to heightened emotional vigilance and maladaptive coping. The concept offers theoretical and clinical insights into emotional dysregulation and relationship distress.