Information-management behavior during stressful waiting periods.

Abstract

In three longitudinal studies, we examined the relationship between worry about an outcome and information-management behavior-specifically seeking and avoiding information about that outcome-in the context of awaiting uncertain news. Study 1 examined a group of U.S. voters across the 4 weeks preceding the 2020 presidential election. Study 2 examined law graduates who completed the California bar exam during the 17 weeks between when they took the exam and when their results were posted online. Study 3 examined job candidates from a variety of academic fields from October to April as they searched for academic jobs. In all three studies, people who reported greater worry about the relevant outcome across the wait reported greater information seeking. Additionally, people were particularly likely to seek information at the times during the wait when they reported the most acute worry. Evidence for the relationship between worry and information avoidance during the wait was more mixed; we found only that people who worried more were more likely to avoid information generally (between-subjects effect) in Studies 1 and 2 and did not find evidence that people were more likely to avoid at times they were most worried (within-subjects effect). These findings suggest that information avoidance might not be the strategy of choice in response to worry during stressful waiting periods; instead, worry seems to be motivating the pursuit of (sometimes unhelpful) information. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).