Source: Science Daily
The less people know about important complex issues such as the economy,
energy consumption and the environment, the more they want to avoid
becoming well-informed, according to new research published by the
American Psychological Association.
And the more urgent the issue, the more people want to remain unaware, according to a paper published online in APA's Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
"These studies were designed to help understand the so-called
'ignorance is bliss' approach to social issues," said author Steven
Shepherd, a graduate student with the University of Waterloo in Ontario.
"The findings can assist educators in addressing significant barriers
to getting people involved and engaged in social issues."
Through a series of five studies conducted in 2010 and 2011 with 511
adults in the United States and Canada, the researchers described "a
chain reaction from ignorance about a subject to dependence on and trust
in the government to deal with the issue."
In one study, participants who felt most affected by the economic
recession avoided information challenging the government's ability to
manage the economy. However, they did not avoid positive information,
the study said. This study comprised 197 Americans with a mean age of 35
(111 women and 89 men), who had received complex information about the
economy and had answered a question about how the economy is affecting
them directly.
To test the links among dependence, trust and avoidance, researchers
provided either a complex or simple description of the economy to a
group of 58 Canadians, mean age 42, composed of 20 men and 38 women. The
participants who received the complex description indicated higher
levels of perceived helplessness in getting through the economic
downturn, more dependence on and trust in the government to manage the
economy, and less desire to learn more about the issue.
"This is despite the fact that, all else equal, one should have less
trust in someone to effectively manage something that is more complex,"
said co-author Aaron C. Kay, PhD, of Duke University. "Instead, people
tend to respond by psychologically 'outsourcing' the issue to the
government, which in turn causes them to trust and feel more dependent
on the government. Ultimately, they avoid learning about the issue
because that could shatter their faith in the government."
Participants who felt unknowledgeable about oil supplies not only
avoided negative information about the issue, they became even more
reluctant to know more when the issue was urgent, as in an imminent oil
shortage in the United States, according the authors. For this study,
163 Americans, with a mean age of 32 (70 men and 93 women), provided
their opinion about the complexity of natural resource management and
then read a statement declaring the United States has less than 40
years' worth of oil supplies. Afterward, they answered questions to
assess their reluctance to learn more.
"Beyond just downplaying the catastrophic, doomsday aspects to their
messages, educators may want to consider explaining issues in ways that
make them easily digestible and understandable, with a clear emphasis on
local, individual-level causes," the authors said.
Another two studies found that participants who received complex
information about energy sources trusted the government more than those
who received simple information. For these studies, researchers
questioned 93 (49 men and 44 women) Canadian undergraduate students in
two separate groups.
The authors recommended further research to determine how people
would react when faced with other important issues such as food safety,
national security, health, social inequality, poverty and moral and
ethical conflict, as well as under what conditions people tend to
respond with increased rather than decreased engagement.
The American Psychological Association, in Washington, D.C., is the
largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology
in the United States and is the world's largest association of
psychologists. APA's membership includes more than 154,000 researchers,
educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions
in 54 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state,
territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance
psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting
health, education and human welfare.
