What, Me Worry? The Role of Affect in Information Seeking and Avoidance
- 1University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, USA
- 2The University of Texas at Austin, USA
- Z. Janet Yang, Department of Communication, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, North Campus, 359 Baldy Hall, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA. Email: zyang5{at}buffalo.edu
Abstract
Guided by the risk information-seeking and processing model, this study examines positive and negative affect separately in their influence on information-seeking intentions and avoidance through structural equation analyses. The highlight is that information avoidance seems to be driven by positive affect, while information seeking seems to be more heavily influenced by negative affect. Another interesting finding is that informational subjective norms are positively related to both seeking and avoidance, which suggests that one’s social environment has the potential to strongly influence the way he or she handles climate change information. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Article Notes
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Declaration of Conflicting Interests The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
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Funding The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
- © 2012 SAGE Publications
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