Selective exposure and information quantity: how different information quantities moderate decision makers' preference for consistent and inconsistent information

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Peter FischerDieter Frey

Abstract

Empirical evidence on selective exposure to information after decisions is contradictory: Whereas many studies have found a preference for information that is consistent with one's prior decision, some have found a preference for inconsistent information. The authors propose that different available information quantities moderate these contradictory findings. Four studies confirmed this expectation. When confronted with 10 pieces of information, decision makers systematically preferred decision-consistent information, whereas when confronted with only 2 pieces of information, they strongly preferred decision-inconsistent information (Study 1). This effect was not due to differences in processing complexity (Study 2) or dissonance processes (Study 3) but could be traced back to different salient selection criteria: When confronted with 2 pieces of information, the salient selection criterion was information direction (consistent vs. inconsistent), which caused a preference for inconsistent information. In contrast, when confronted with more than 2 pieces of information, the salient selection criterion was expected information quality, which caused a preference for consistent information (Study 4).

Citations

Sep 3, 2010·Annual Review of Psychology·Gerd Bohner, Nina Dickel
Nov 11, 2015·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Anna DreberMagnus Johannesson
Jun 8, 2014·Human Nature : an Interdisciplinary Biosocial Perspective·Ryan C Anderson, Michele K Surbey
Aug 3, 2018·Journal of Personality·Benjamin J I Schellenberg, Daniel S Bailis
Nov 30, 2018·Perspectives on Psychological Science : a Journal of the Association for Psychological Science·Thomas T Hills
Jun 5, 2017·BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making·Lori WozneyPatrick McGrath

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