Disentangling the Effects of Cognitive, Affective, and Sociocultural Factors on Risk Information Avoidance: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Risk information avoidance (RIA) has become an increasingly ubiquitous behavior for people to deal with massive volumes of information. Given its detrimental impact, abundant studies were conducted to explore its antecedents. Nevertheless, the results are scattered and, in some cases, inconsistent. We thereby conducted a meta-analysis to present a synthesis of the current findings by identifying the most relevant antecedents and moderators. Guided by the framework of Planned Risk Information Avoidance, we examined 11 antecedents along cognitive, emotional, and sociocultural dimensions. Based on 52 articles across various contexts, the results indicated that information overload ( r = .30), efficacy belief ( r = −.11), fatalism ( r = .18), information insufficiency ( r = −.09), anxiety ( r = .26), worry ( r = −.08) and information avoiding norms ( r = .50) were significant predictors of RIA. Furthermore, uncertainty avoidance and information type were identified as moderators.