Addressing the Information Crisis: Understanding the Relationships Between Information Choices and Health and Academic Outcomes
Abstract
In today’s society, the prevalence of the “share first, question later” mentality has become a norm. However, this approach to information can have severe consequences when it comes to information seeking behaviors, and health and academic outcomes. Previous research has already illustrated that people are not very good at evaluating information, they prefer to surround themselves with confirming viewpoints, and accepting health misinformation can adversely affect one’s health. Building upon this knowledge, the current study aimed to investigate whether people have preferences in the information they use and their potential implications for health and academic outcomes. Specifically, it was examined how these preferences relate to and potentially shape the impact of prior beliefs and behaviors regarding information searching and evaluation. Although the study did not establish a direct link between these preferences and health and academic outcomes, it did reveal that individuals do exhibit preferences for certain information traits, influencing their engagement with and acceptance of information. Furthermore, the findings emphasized the contextual nature of information preferences, suggesting that strategies for information dissemination and evaluation need to be tailored to specific topics or domains to effectively engage people. The findings also further substantiated the importance of developing information literacy skills to improve health outcomes and academic success and addressing biases in information seeking behaviors.
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Transforming First-Year Information Literacy: Understanding Authority in a Sea of Information
Reed, Michelle; Becker, Jill; Gamble, Stephanie; Leung, Sofia (ACRL, 2017-03-24)This panel will discuss a university library’s development and implementation of a 3-day information literacy unit that was integrated into 45 sections of the university’s first-year experience seminar. Since 2012, the ... -
An Information Theoretic Approach to Incorporating Prior Information in Binomial Sampling
Chiou, Paul; Dyer, Danny D. (University of Texas at ArlingtonDepartment of Mathematics, 1983-05)**Please note that the full text is embargoed** ABSTRACT: The incorporation of prior information about [see pdf for notation], where [see pdf for notation] is the success probability in a binomial sampling model, is an ... -
Informal Use of Information and Communication Technology: Adjunct to Traditional Face-to-Face Social Work Practice
Mishna, Faye; Fantus, Sophia; McInroy, Lauren B. (Springer, 2017)**Please note that the full text is embargoed** ABSTRACT: Information and communication technologies (ICTs) (including mobile devices) are characterized by the integration of technology into communication, and have ...