Radhika Santhanagopalan, Jane L Risen, Katherine D Kinzler
{"title":"Becoming an Ostrich: The Development of Information Avoidance.","authors":"Radhika Santhanagopalan, Jane L Risen, Katherine D Kinzler","doi":"10.1177/09567976251344551","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Adults selectively avoid useful information. We examined the development of information avoidance in 5- to 10-year-old American children (<i>N</i> = 320). In Experiment 1, children considered scenarios that might elicit information avoidance: protecting against negative emotions, maintaining perceptions of likeability and competence, preserving beliefs and preferences, and acting in self-interest. When a motivation for avoidance was present, children were more likely to avoid learning information, particularly with age. Experiment 2 presented the self-interest scenario (a moral \"wiggle room\" task) involving real payoffs. Although children could reveal their partner's payoff without cost, older children capitalized on moral \"wiggle room\" by avoiding this information and choosing the self-interested payoff. In Experiment 3, we considered conditions under which even young children might avoid information, finding that they too avoided information when explicitly encouraged to protect their emotions. Additional qualitative findings probed children's open-ended responses about why people seek and avoid information. Together, these experiments document the origins of information avoidance.</p>","PeriodicalId":20745,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Science","volume":" ","pages":"9567976251344551"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Psychological Science","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976251344551","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Adults selectively avoid useful information. We examined the development of information avoidance in 5- to 10-year-old American children (N = 320). In Experiment 1, children considered scenarios that might elicit information avoidance: protecting against negative emotions, maintaining perceptions of likeability and competence, preserving beliefs and preferences, and acting in self-interest. When a motivation for avoidance was present, children were more likely to avoid learning information, particularly with age. Experiment 2 presented the self-interest scenario (a moral "wiggle room" task) involving real payoffs. Although children could reveal their partner's payoff without cost, older children capitalized on moral "wiggle room" by avoiding this information and choosing the self-interested payoff. In Experiment 3, we considered conditions under which even young children might avoid information, finding that they too avoided information when explicitly encouraged to protect their emotions. Additional qualitative findings probed children's open-ended responses about why people seek and avoid information. Together, these experiments document the origins of information avoidance.
期刊介绍:
Psychological Science, the flagship journal of The Association for Psychological Science (previously the American Psychological Society), is a leading publication in the field with a citation ranking/impact factor among the top ten worldwide. It publishes authoritative articles covering various domains of psychological science, including brain and behavior, clinical science, cognition, learning and memory, social psychology, and developmental psychology. In addition to full-length articles, the journal features summaries of new research developments and discussions on psychological issues in government and public affairs. "Psychological Science" is published twelve times annually.