Negative Capability: A Human Factor of Resilience for Crisis Management and a Valuable Training and Intervention Objective

In the field of crisis management, negative capability can be understood as an individual’s or team’s ability to tolerate and accept challenging and confusing situations and search for meaning and means of action despite a high degree of indeterminacy. In this paper, we develop the conceptual, empirical and practical value of negative capability in the field of individual and team resilience in crisis management. Conceptually, its interest is to distill and define the human capacity to act when faced with the unknown. Empirically, this concept offers new analytical possibilities, as exemplified through a case study conducted during a COVID-19 pandemic peak. Practically, we argue that developing negative capability can be a relevant objective for crisis management preparedness, and provide tentative orientations for the design of training interventions that focus on human factors. We conclude with suggestions for further research.