Scholars from various academic disciplines have discussed the growing issue of information avoidance and its adverse consequences. To bring together different perspectives, clarify this phenomenon, and explore its consequences, a scoping review was conducted. A total of 206 articles met the stipulated inclusion criteria. The review consolidated definitions of related terms and defined information avoidance as any (in)action intended to delay or prevent the acquisition of specific types of available, accessible, personally relevant, possibly unknown but unwanted information from (selected) media and interpersonal sources. Despite a wide range of postulated consequences, only a limited number of studies have examined them, with findings revealing mixed results. Based on the current state of research, desiderates are proposed to guide future research on information avoidance.
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