The Reciprocity of Discrete Emotions and Health Information Seeking and Avoidance: An Experience Sampling Study

Abstract

Although health information behaviors are commonly assumed to serve an emotion-regulating function, the present state of research focuses on emotions as predictors of these behaviors. The reciprocal relationship between emotions and seeking or avoiding information remains incompletely understood. By employing an experience sampling study to identify real-life situations in which individuals engage in information behaviors, the current study offers a nuanced perspective on the dynamics of emotions and information behaviors. Based on 17,764 momentary assessments of 504 participants who were currently facing a health challenge, multilevel models demonstrated that the explanatory contribution of specific discrete emotions to information behaviors, and vice versa, was minor. Information seeking appears to be more predicted by negative emotions, such as fear, anxiety, and worry than information avoidance. Neither information seeking nor avoidance was found to reduce negative emotions; rather, they were observed to exacerbate them. In addition to offering crucial insights into the extent to which information behaviors serve as adequate emotion regulation, the study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of health information behaviors and provides guidance for further theory specification.