Measuring Information Preferences

Emily H. Ho (), David Hagmann () and George Loewenstein
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Emily H. Ho: Department of Psychology, Fordham University, Bronx, New York 10458; Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois 60611;
David Hagmann: Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138; Department of Social and Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213

Management Science, 2021, vol. 67, issue 1, 126-145

Abstract: Advances in medical testing and widespread access to the internet have made it easier than ever to obtain information. Yet, when it comes to some of the most important decisions in life, people often choose to remain ignorant for a variety of psychological and economic reasons. We design and validate an information preferences scale to measure an individual’s desire to obtain or avoid information that may be unpleasant but could improve future decisions. The scale measures information preferences in three domains that are psychologically and materially consequential: consumer finance, personal characteristics, and health. In three studies incorporating responses from over 2,300 individuals, we present tests of the scale’s reliability and validity. We show that the scale predicts a real decision to obtain (or avoid) information in each of the domains as well as decisions from out-of-sample, unrelated domains. Across settings, many respondents prefer to remain in a state of active ignorance even when information is freely available. Moreover, we find that information preferences are a stable trait but that an individual’s preference for information can differ across domains.

Keywords: utility preference: applications; information avoidance; psychometric; economics: behavior and behavioral decision making; organizational studies: motivation incentives (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:67:y:2021:i:1:p:126-145

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