Information Avoidance

What is information avoidance?

Information avoidance is behavior intended to prevent or delay learning available information that may be unwanted. Sweeny and colleagues (2010) distinguish this from simply lacking access to information.

Example and explanation

For example, someone might delay opening feedback because the result could be upsetting. The relevant feature is the intention to avoid learning, rather than a delay caused by a busy schedule or a missing message. As Golman, Hagmann and Loewenstein (2017) explain, information can affect feelings and beliefs directly. That helps explain why people sometimes decline even useful information.

Consequences and limits

Avoidance can carry costs when the information would support useful action, but it is not automatically irrational to decline costly or irrelevant information. The reasons, available actions and emotional consequences matter.