Establishing an Information Avoidance Scale.
People differ in their openness to different types of information and some information may evoke greater avoidance than does other information. We developed an 8-item measure of people's tendency to avoid learning information. The flexible instrument can function as both a predictor and outcome measure. The results from 4 studies involving 7 samples and 4,393 participants reveal that scores on the measure are generally internally consistent, remain relatively stable across time, and correlate modestly with measures of similar constructs and with avoidance behavior. The measure is adaptable to a variety of types of information (e.g., health outcomes, attractiveness feedback) and is internally consistent in several distinct populations (e.g., high school students, college students, U.S. adults, low-socioeconomic-status adults). Discussion centers on potential uses for the scale and an online supplement discusses a 2-item version of the scale. (PsycINFO Database Record
Department of Psychology, Ohio University.
Jennifer L
JL
Howell
Department of Psychology, University of Florida.
James A
JA
Shepperd
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007257:Information Theory; D019359:Knowledge; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011581:Psychological Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055815:Young Adult