Post on 25-Dec-2015
Online health information avoidance
Colleen Addison, MA, MLIS, PhD candidateLuanne Freund, PhD
Agenda
Personal Motivation
Background
Research questions
Methods
Results
Discussion
Personal Motivation
Taught English (pre-2006)
Prague
Tunis
MLIS 2006 (University of Western Ontario)
How people look up information
Background
“any behaviour intended to prevent or delay the acquisition
of available but potentially un-wanted information”
(Sweeny et al, 2010)
-usually in health arena
-what’s missing: why and how
Definition
Background
Why people avoid information
1. Personality
-monitoring and blunting theory (Miller, 1980)
-self-efficacy (Melnyk & Shepperd, 2012)
2. Affect
-managing emotions: hope, fear (Sweeny et al, 2010;
Barbour et al, 2012)
3. Information source
-avoiding negative information (Nielsen & Shapiro, 2009)
Background
How people avoid information
removing or ignoring stimuli not going to the doctor
controlling conversations (Barbour et al, 2012)
Little is known about online tactics-Googling and then stopping
Research questions
1. What factors influence the information avoidance process
and to what extent?
2. What are the mechanisms of information avoidance?
Methods
Dissertation study:
-pilot study: online survey
-experimental user study
-qualitative interviews
Methods
Demographic questionnaire and need for cognition test
Gave people hypothetical scenarios (“imagine you have”) about various
diseases of varying severityMeningioma (brain tumour)Acoustic neuroma (benign tumour located in ear)Bell’s palsy (usually temporary facial paralysis)Crohn’s disease (digestive disorder)Lupus (autoimmune disease)
Gave Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) test to measure
emotional response
Asked them how likely they would be to look for information (6:
extremely likely to 1: not at all likely)
Online survey using crowdsourcing platform for recruitment
Results
-198 participants
AN: 38; CP: 39; CD: 42; LP: 38; MG: 41
-slight majority were men (110 men; 88 women)
-mainly young (68% between 19 and 39)
-a range of education (36% high school; 31% undergrad; 21%
college; 5% graduate)
-majority (83) had “good” health (middle category)
Information avoidance
Please rate how much information you would likely seek
out and read about acoustic neuromas if you actually
had this condition. Please use the comment box to
explain your answer.
Choose one of the following answers6 I would look for as much information as I could find5 I would look for a great deal of information4 I would look for a moderate amount of information3 I would look for a small amount of information2 I would not avoid information, but would not actively look for it1 I would avoid information about this disease No answer
Information avoidance
Likelihood of looking for information
Numbers of people
Likelihood of looking for information
Numbers of people
Comments
Please rate how much information you would likely
seek out and read about ________ if you actually had this
condition. Please use the comment box to explain your
answer.
Comments: Levels of interest
Information disinterest/interest
“I have no desire to learn about this.” (MG)
”I would be curious to know everything about this
'condition’.” (BP)
Comments: Managing emotions
Looking for hopeful information
“I would be despiretely [sic] trying to find as much info as possible. Hopeing [sic] for
some good news” (MG)
Resisting overreactions
“I would want more information but I would not want to be consumed with looking
for information” (BP)
Comments: Authority/information source
“I would…try to find out if there is anything the doctors aren’t
telling me.” (AN)
“I would want to see information, but would 'take with a grain
of salt' until I could discuss further with my doctor.” (BP)
Study Limitations
Hypothetical scenarios
people may act differently in real situations
Reasons for information avoidance
why people avoided remained fairly unclear
Time factor
the question about information seeking came quickly
after participants viewed a scenario
Summary
-majority sought info, but a clear minority avoided
-a range of considerations affect the likelihood of people’s
information searching
-people search for information to fulfill needs other than
informational, such as affective needs
Bibliography
Baker, L. M. (1994). The information needs and information-seeking patterns of women coping with and
adjusting to multiple sclerosis (Order No. NN93194). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text;
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (304150299). Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/304150299?accountid=14656
Barbour, J. B., Rintamaki, L. S., Ramsey, J. A., & Brashers, D. E. (2012). Avoiding Health Information. Journal Of
Health Communication, 17(2), 212-229. doi:10.1080/10810730.2011.585691
Dawson, E., Savitsky, K. and Dunning, D. (2006), “Don't Tell Me, I Don't Want to Know”: Understanding People's
Reluctance to Obtain Medical Diagnostic Information. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 36: 751–768.
doi: 10.1111/j.0021-9029.2006.00028.
Johnson, J. D. & Case, D. O. (2012). Health information seeking. New York: Peter Lang.
Miller, S. (1980) When is a little information a dangerous thing? Coping with stressful events by monitoring
versus blunting. In Levine, S. & Ursin, H. Coping and Health. (1980) Stanford: Springer.
Sweeny, K. & Miller, W. Predictors of information avoidance: When does ignorance seem most blissful? Self and
identity 11(2), 185-201.
Sweeny K, Melnyk D, Miller W, Shepperd J. (2010) Information avoidance: Who, what, when, and why. Review Of
General Psychology 14(4), 340-353.