People like getting bad news often, even if it’s not very accurate, but they prefer good news that’s accurate and not too frequent. That’s what a study from the University of Michigan found.
The study shows that folks lean towards sources that give out imprecise negative news a lot and accurate positive news less often. They don’t seem to like sources that do the opposite, like sharing precise good news more frequently and bad news less often.
Lack of trust
Interestingly, most people who don’t trust highly accurate sources also don’t like the ones that often share positive news but with less accuracy. However, a good number of them find sources that frequently give out imprecise bad news and less accurate good news to be okay.
This suggests that when dealing with people who usually avoid accurate information, it might be helpful to start with sources that share mostly imprecise bad news.
“The most important insight from our paper is that more precise information does not always mean more informed decision-making,” the researchers explain. “People manage their emotions about anxiety-provoking events in the future by choosing the beliefs they want to carry, which is partially managed by which information sources they want to expose themselves to.”
Avoiding information
The study builds on earlier research that looked at how people avoid information. Before, studies found that individuals sometimes steer clear of information, even when it could help them make better decisions.
This tendency to avoid information often crops up in situations that make people anxious, where the info could be either good or bad. For instance, imagine deciding whether to take a specific medical test that can tell you if you might develop a serious illness later on.
To shield themselves from the emotional impact of potentially bad news, some people choose to stay in the dark instead. Orhun and her team explored the types of information people might prefer in such situations.
They ran experiments on what kinds of information people like when it comes to medical testing, intelligence testing, and lotteries. First off, they identified a new preference—a liking for positive skewness—among the majority of individuals. Then, they zoomed in on those who avoided getting precise information that could perfectly predict the outcome. Turns out, some of these folks were open to receiving information that was positively skewed.
“We care about one’s emotional well-being and physical and economic well-being,” the authors conclude. “Information generally leads to better decision-making. Should we force information onto people when they want to avoid it to protect their emotional well-being?
“I think this is where knowing that positively skewed information may increase information uptake really comes in handy.”
