Avoiding Trouble: Exploring Environmental Risk Information Avoidance Intentions.

Kahlor, Lee Ann; Olson, Hilary Clement; Markman, Arthur B.; Wang, Wan

doi:10.1177/0013916518799149

“…The motivation for danger control enhances the information-seeking process, while the motivation for fear control spurs information avoidance ( Witte, 1994 ). More recently, Kahlor et al. (2020) fashioned an information avoidance model based on their earlier planned risk information-seeking model (PRISM) ( Kahlor, 2010 ), and the two models share similar predictors, although the dependent variables differ.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In some prior studies, the three terms— negative affect, anxiety , and cognitive dissonance —were often interchangeably used, and these studies often produced inconsistent results. For example, Kahlor et al. (2020) measured what they called the affective risk response in terms of the two dimensions of worry and fear ( Kahlor, 2010 ) and found a negative relationship between affective response and information avoidance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We adapted three items from Metzger et al. (2020) and borrowed three items from Kahlor, Olson, Markman and Wang (2020) to measure information avoidance. Moreover, three items were developed for this study to measure preventive behavior intention based on the World Health Organization's (2020 ) advice on preventive behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

What motivates Chinese consumers to avoid information about the COVID-19 pandemic?: The perspective of the stimulus-organism-response model

Song

¹

,

Yao

²

,

Ning

³

2021

Information Processing & Management

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Highlights A research model based on S-O-R framework is proposed to examine the factors that influence health information avoidance intention during the COVID-19 pandemic. Information avoidance in the COVID-19 pandemic is determined by consumers’ negative affect: sadness, anxiety, and cognitive dissonance. Information avoidance intention influences consumers’ subsequent intentions of taking preventive behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Consumer's negative affect is influenced by perceived threat and perceived information overload during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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“…While perhaps comforting in the moment, information avoidance, similar to threat denial and avoiding making a decision, can impede precautionary measures, even measures that may be within a person's means. Other research has shown that people avoid risk information about an environmental threat if they perceive that avoidance is normative (Kahlor, Olson, Markman, & Wang, ), and that lack of awareness of an environmental threat can lead to lack of preparation (Lindell & Perry, ). Yet, we know of no study that has examined how the burden of preparation might influence people's decisions to avoid threat‐related information.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Financial resources and decisions to avoid information about environmental perils

Losee

¹

,

Shepperd

²

,

Webster

³

2019

J Applied Social Pyschol

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Environmental perils pose threats that require mitigation. Mitigation requires knowledge of the threat. Ironically, people may opt to avoid information about an environmental peril, especially if they lack resources to respond and the mitigation burden is high or costly. Three experiments (N = 845) examined how available resources and the resource burden of responding to an environmental peril affect the perceived of burden of taking action, and how perceiving burden, in turn, affects avoidance of information about the threat. Experiments 1a and 1b revealed that lower perceived likelihood of taking action and low income predicted a greater tendency to avoid hurricane risk information among Florida residents. Experiment 2 examined receptivity to information about home radon levels and manipulated the burden required to make repairs ($200 vs. $2,000). Having low income and learning repairs were costly corresponded with greater perceived burden of taking action, which predicted a lower likelihood to repair and greater information avoidance. These findings demonstrate that facing a high mitigation burden and lacking resources can lead to remaining uninformed about risks posed by environmental perils. Remaining uninformed is problematic because it may increase people's vulnerability to damage from these threats. However, these findings also identify a potential pathway for intervention. Reminding people of resources they may be unaware of will likely increase their likelihood of preparation and decrease information avoidance.

show abstract

“…While perhaps comforting in the moment, information avoidance, similar to threat denial and avoiding making a decision, can impede precautionary measures, even measures that may be within a person's means. Other research has shown that people avoid risk information about an environmental threat if they perceive that avoidance is normative (Kahlor, Olson, Markman, & Wang, 2018), and that lack of awareness of an environmental threat can lead to lack of preparation (Lindell & Perry, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Financial Resources and Decisions to Avoid Information about Environmental Perils

Losee¹,

Shepperd²,

Webster³

2018

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Environmental perils pose threats that require mitigation. Mitigation requires knowledge of the threat. Ironically, people may opt to avoid information about an environmental peril, especially if they lack resources to respond and the mitigation burden is high or costly. Three experiments (N = 845) examined how available resources and the resource burden of responding to an environmental peril affect the perceived of burden of taking action, and how perceiving burden, in turn, affects avoidance of information about the threat. Experiments 1a and 1b revealed that lower perceived likelihood of taking action and low income predicted a greater tendency to avoid hurricane risk information among Florida residents. Experiment 2 examined receptivity to information about home radon levels and manipulated the burden required to make repairs ($200 vs. $2,000). Having low income and learning repairs were costly corresponded with greater perceived burden of taking action, which predicted a lower likelihood to repair and greater information avoidance. These findings demonstrate that facing a high mitigation burden and lacking resources can lead to remaining uninformed about risks posed by environmental perils. Remaining uninformed is problematic because it may increase people's vulnerability to damage from these threats. However, these findings also identify a potential pathway for intervention. Reminding people of resources they may be unaware of will likely increase their likelihood of preparation and decrease information avoidance.

show abstract

Avoiding Trouble: Exploring Environmental Risk Information Avoidance Intentions.

Cited by 37 publications

References 99 publications

What motivates Chinese consumers to avoid information about the COVID-19 pandemic?: The perspective of the stimulus-organism-response model

What motivates Chinese consumers to avoid information about the COVID-19 pandemic?: The perspective of the stimulus-organism-response model

Financial resources and decisions to avoid information about environmental perils

Financial Resources and Decisions to Avoid Information about Environmental Perils

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