Journal of Economic Literature· 2017Q1
Information Avoidance
- 815citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2017year
Short summary
People may actively avoid information, even when it's useful and free, because information itself can directly impact their utility.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Information can directly enter an agent's utility function, not just serve as a means to an end.
- This creates an incentive to avoid information, even if it's useful, free, and not strategically dependent.
- Research from economics and psychology documents the occurrence and reasons for information avoidance.
- Information avoidance has diverse and often costly individual and societal consequences.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
We commonly think of information as a means to an end. However, a growing theoretical and experimental literature suggests that information may directly enter the agent's utility function. This can create an incentive to avoid information, even when it is useful, free, and independent of strategic considerations. We review research documenting the occurrence of information avoidance, as well as theoretical and empirical research on reasons why people avoid information, drawing from economics, psychology, and other disciplines. The review concludes with a discussion of some of the diverse (and often costly) individual and societal consequences of information avoidance. (JEL D82, D83)
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Journal of Economic Literature, 2017 · DOI ↗
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