The development of willful ignorance

Abstract

What are the developmental roots of willful ignorance? Research with adults demonstrates that people avoid information across many consequential domains of life. Yet, developmental research consistently demonstrates that children show high levels of curiosity, information-seeking, and learning. When, how, and why do we transition from seemingly indiscriminate seekers of information as children, to selective information avoiders as adults? We propose that a developmentally-oriented framework is uniquely positioned to (a) uncover the origins and development of willful ignorance, including the mechanisms that shape its development; (b) inform early interventions to discourage willful ignorance and promote adaptive decision-making that compounds over time; and (c) isolate precursors to societal issues such as political polarization.