Cited by 15Psychological and Educational Research StudiesDecision-Making and Behavioral EconomicsAging and Gerontology Research

Uncertainty drives exploration of negative information across younger and older adults

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Yagi, Ayano, FitzGibbon, Lily, Murayama, Kou, Shinomori, Keizo, Sakaki, Michiko·2023·Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience

Abstract

Although individuals generally avoid negative information, recent research documents that they voluntarily explore negative information to resolve uncertainty. However, it remains unclear (a) whether uncertainty facilitates exploration similarly when exploration is expected to lead to negative, neutral, or positive information, and (b) whether older adults seek negative information to reduce uncertainty like younger adults do. This study addresses the two issues across four experimental studies (N = 407). The results indicate that individuals are more likely to expose themselves to negative information when uncertainty is high. In contrast, when information was expected to be neutral or positive, the uncertainty surrounding it did not significantly alter individuals' exploration behavior. Furthermore, we found that uncertainty increased the exploration of negative information in both older and younger adults. In addition, both younger and older adults chose to explore negative information to reduce uncertainty, even when there were positive or neutral alternatives. In contrast to the age-related similarities in these behavioral measures, older adults demonstrated reduced scores in questionnaires on sensation seeking and curiosity, relative to their counterparts who were younger. These results suggest that information uncertainty has a selective facilitation effect on exploration for negative information and that normal aging does not alter this tendency, despite age-related reductions in self-reported measures of personality traits relevant to information seeking.

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  • Uncertainty-related hypervigilance 'locks into' the propensity of news to prioritize negative valence and the tendency of people in high uncertainty to explore negative information and appraise emotionally ambiguous information in negative terms, thus initiating a vicious circle.

    “Uncertainty-related hypervigilance “locks into” the aforementioned propensity of news to prioritize content with negative valence and the tendency of people in a situation of high uncertainty to explore negative information [125] and appraise emotionally ambiguous information in negative terms [126], thus initiating a vicious circle, which we describe in the subsequent sections.”

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Spielberger, C. D., Gorsuch, R. L., & Lushene, R. E. (1970). Manual for the State-Trait Anxieg Inventor STAI (Self-evaluation question- naire). Consulting Psychologists Press.
  2. Von Stumm, S., Hell, B., & Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2011). The hun- gry mind: Intellectual curiosity is the third pillar of academic per- formance. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6(6), 574-588.

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Authors
Yagi, A., FitzGibbon, L., Murayama, K., Shinomori, K., & Sakaki, M.
Affiliations
  • Hiroshima Shudo University (JP)
  • University of Stirling (GB)
  • Kochi University of Technology (JP)
Corresponding author
Sakaki, Michiko
Venue
Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience
Published
2023-04-26
Volume
23
Issue
3
Pages
809-826
ISSN
  • 1530-7026 (ISSN-L)
  • 1531-135X
OpenAlex
W4367048654
Cited by
15
References
64
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2
FWCI
3.87
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • CentAUR (University of Reading) (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung
  • Leverhulme Trust (RL-2016-030)
  • European Commission (618600)
  • Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
  • Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JH16H06406, 16H02053, 18H03323, 23K22355, 22H00088, 16H05959)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Psychological and Educational Research Studies
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
Keywords
information seeking, uncertainty, negative information, exploration, older adults, age differences, sensation seeking, curiosity, normal aging, information avoidance
MeSH terms
Aged, Aging, Exploratory Behavior, Humans, Uncertainty

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