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    Information Avoidance and Image Concerns
    16 Feb 2021Working Paper Summaries

    Information Avoidance and Image Concerns

    by Christine L. Exley and Judd B. Kessler
    People avoid information that might compel them to behave more generously. While many people avoid information due to concerns about their self-image, there is a substantial role for other reasons, such as inattention and confusion.
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    Author Abstract

    A rich literature finds that individuals avoid information, even information that is instrumental to their choices. A common hypothesis posits that individuals strategically avoid information to hold particular beliefs or to take certain actions—such as behaving selfishly—with lower image costs. Building off of the classic "moral wiggle room" design, this paper provides the first direct test of whether individuals avoid information because of image concerns. We analyze data from 4,626 experimental subjects. We find that image concerns play a role in driving information avoidance, but a role that is substantially smaller than the common approach in the literature would suggest. The large majority (66% to 81%) of information avoidance remains when image concerns cannot drive avoidance. We find evidence for other reasons why individuals avoid information, such as a desire to avoid interpersonal tradeoffs, a desire to avoid bad news, laziness, inattention, and confusion.

    Paper Information

    • Full Working Paper Text
    • Working Paper Publication Date: January 2021
    • HBS Working Paper Number: 21-080
    • Faculty Unit(s): Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
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    Christine L. Exley
    Christine L. Exley
    Marvin Bower Associate Professor
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