The deliberate effort to avoid or delay acquiring potentially unpleasant information, known as information avoidance, can be observed in various aspects of human behaviour and interaction. This phenomenon is particularly relevant in the context of bad news, such as receiving medical diagnoses, experiencing professional setbacks, dealing with personal challenges, distressing global events, personal setbacks, or societal issues that can evoke strong negative emotions (Torabi & Mirzabeigi, 2021). As a coping mechanism, people may engage in information avoidance to protect themselves from distress or to retain a sense of control. To effectively manage difficult situations and encourage adaptive responses to adverse news, it is important to understand the dynamics of information avoidance (Case et al., 2005). Understanding the dynamics of information avoidance is crucial, especially in academic settings where students often encounter challenging information that may affect their mental well-being and academic performance.

Individuals may use information avoidance as a way to cope with negative stimuli and regulate their emotions, which is closely related to feelings of anxiety, fear, and discomfort (Case et al., 2005). When presented with information that has the potential to trigger negative emotions like sadness or distress, people may consciously or unconsciously choose to avoid it to preserve their psychological well-being (Sweeny et al., 2010). However, this avoidance strategy may inadvertently reinforce anxiety and contribute to a cycle of avoidance, as individuals continue to evade potentially discomforting information instead of processing it (Schell et al., 2023). Ultimately, while information avoidance may provide temporary relief from negative emotions, it can hinder emotional growth, impede problem-solving efforts, and limit opportunities for personal development and resilience-building.

Emotional styles refer to the unique ways in which individuals experience and express their emotions. Factors such as anxiety, fear, or emotional resilience can significantly affect individuals’ information-seeking behaviours. People with high anxiety levels may be more likely to avoid information that could cause negative emotions, while those with greater emotional resilience may be more inclined to actively seek out information, even if it means confronting distressing news (Narayan et al., 2011). These emotional styles play a crucial role in shaping individuals’ perceptions of risk and their ability to tolerate uncertainty, which in turn, affects decision-making (Sobczak et al., 2023). Moreover, emotional styles also influence how individuals cope with adverse information.

Research on the connection between emotional styles and information processing is vital for developing tailored interventions that can help individuals effectively manage challenging situations and promote adaptive coping strategies (Ding et al., 2021). By incorporating insights about emotional styles into research and practice, professionals can develop more effective interventions to mitigate information avoidance and promote healthier information-seeking behaviours. For example, those with high anxiety levels might benefit from stress management and emotion-regulation techniques, while those with greater emotional resilience might respond better to cognitive reframing and acceptance-based approaches. By developing these tailored interventions, individuals can learn how to effectively manage their emotional responses to information, and develop adaptive coping strategies that can help them make informed decisions, even in the face of uncertainty (Ding et al., 2021).

In regards to the connection between emotional styles and information avoidance, there are some possibilities. For example, individuals with a negative outlook, who generally expect the worst, might avoid bad news to prevent their negative expectations from being confirmed. People with low social intuition, who struggle to understand others’ emotions, might avoid bad news, especially if it relates to others, to avoid the emotional discomfort of not fully understanding the implications. Individuals with low self-awareness, who have difficulty understanding their own emotions, might avoid bad news because they lack the emotional skills to cope with it effectively. Those with low sensitivity to context, who struggle to adapt their emotional responses to different situations, might avoid bad news to prevent the potential emotional discomfort of not knowing how to respond appropriately. To sum up, individuals with specific emotional styles might be more prone to information avoidance when it comes to bad news as a way to regulate their emotions (Alharbi & Alnoor, 2024; Andriopoulos & Kafetsios, 2015; Dai et al., 2020). University students, who are often at a critical developmental stage, face unique emotional and cognitive demands. They are regularly exposed to a variety of news topics, some of which can be deeply distressing and may influence their academic and personal lives. Given the increasing concern about students’ mental health, it is essential to understand the emotional mechanisms behind their engagement with or avoidance of negative news.

Studies have recognised the impact of emotions on how we process information and make decisions (Zuckerman et al., 2024). However, there remains a significant gap in our understanding of how individual emotional styles, contribute to our tendency to avoid or seek out information, especially if it is negative (Foust & Taber, 2023). This will help us understand the underlying mechanisms and potential interventions to alleviate maladaptive avoidance strategies in contexts where bad news is prevalent, such as in healthcare, organisational management, or personal relationships.

This study is part of a larger initiative conducted at the Ketabbase Lab (https://www.researchgate.net/lab/Ketabbase-Lab-Mahsa-Torabi), which focuses on exploring various dimensions of information avoidance and its implications. There is a gap in understanding how emotional styles influence information avoidance, especially among students. University students often come across distressing information in academic and social settings, which can affect their mental health, decision-making, and academic performance. It is important to explore how specific emotional styles, such as resilience, social intuition, and sensitivity to context, impact students’ tendency to avoid negative news, as emotional regulation plays a crucial role in managing difficult information (Figure 1). The research question is as follows, based on the aforementioned gap: RQ:

Do the emotional styles (resilience, outlook, social intuition, self-awareness, sensitivity to context and attention) affect students’ information avoidance about bad news? If so, how?

The term “information processing” refers to the cognitive mechanisms individuals use to perceive, interpret, store, and retrieve information to transform it into usable knowledge. “Information search” is a focused and intentional activity aimed at locating specific information, often involving interaction with databases or systems. “Information seeking” is a broader concept that encompasses all efforts to obtain information, whether actively or passively, and includes emotional and social dimensions. “Information behaviour” covers the full range of interactions with information, including seeking, using, and avoiding it, and is shaped by broader contextual factors. This paper focuses on “information avoidance,” which involves deliberately avoiding information actively, especially when it may be distressing or unwelcome (Sweeny et al., 2010).

The act of avoiding information, even when it could be helpful or important, is known as information avoidance (Torabi & Mirzabeigi, 2021). This behaviour can be influenced by factors like personal beliefs, social norms, personal characteristics, health status, perceived utility of information and motivations (Gruener & Mußhoff, 2023). Multiple studies have revealed that individuals may engage in information avoidance for a variety of reasons, ranging from self-serving to pro-social motives, with political attitudes being a significant factor (Link, 2022; Momsen & Ohndorf, 2023). Health information avoidance is a particular form of this behaviour that involves actively avoiding health-related information that may be distressing or threatening, affecting a person’s decisions regarding healthcare and preventative measures (Zhou & Yin, 2023).

Avoiding information can have both positive and negative effects. On the one hand, it can help people deal with emotional challenges and serve as a protective mechanism, as documented in (Mirzabeigi et al., 2023). On the other hand, information avoidance can have negative consequences for healthcare promotion and prevention efforts, as it can hinder knowledge acquisition and delay the uptake of preventive behaviours (Link, 2022).

The concept of information search theory provides a solid foundation for comprehending information avoidance (Link, 2022). Seeking and avoiding information are interrelated procedures, and both are shaped by the perceived significance of information, which can impact an individual’s actions, emotions, and thoughts (Sharot & Sunstein, 2020). While decision-making heavily relies on available information, certain information may be avoided due to factors such as overwhelming emotional weight or information overload (Golman et al., 2022; Soroya et al., 2021). People’s yearning for information stems from their innate drive to fine-tune their beliefs and concentrate on those that evoke positivity.

In this paper, information avoidance is described as the deliberate effort to avoid or delay acquiring information, especially when it is perceived as distressing, unwanted, or likely to cause discomfort. Unlike information seeking, where individuals actively pursue knowledge, information avoidance involves consciously steering clear of certain types of information, such as bad news or distressing updates.

There are numerous factors that contribute to information avoidance. These include various user- related aspects, such as demographic characteristics, health-behaviour perception, personality traits and perceived threat (Guo et al., 2023; Mirzabeigi et al., 2023). Additionally, information- related factors like information quality, information overload, and dissemination can play a role in avoidance behaviour. Emotion-related factors, such as emotional states before and after encountering information, also significantly influence avoidance (Li, 2023). Furthermore, the effects of information awareness, search purpose, search expectation, and search subject type on information avoidance are significant (Momsen & Ohndorf, 2023). In the context of COVID-19, factors like channel belief, information overload, and psychosocial aspects impact information avoidance behaviours (Link, 2022). Additionally, political attitudes can influence the type of information avoidance exhibited, with Democratic voters demonstrating pro-social avoidance and Republican voters engaging in self-serving avoidance. It is important to note that these voters are located in the US (Momsen & Ohndorf, 2023).

As mentioned in emotion-related factors, the role of emotions in influencing information avoidance behaviour is significant; according to research, negative emotionality and a sense of coherence have a direct and indirect impact on emotionally motivated information avoidance, with manageability mediating this relationship (Heinström et al., 2022). In emotional decision-making, individuals tend to simplify the process and facilitate emotional choices by avoiding information (Ahmadi et al., 2019). Research has identified guilt, anger, and shame as motivating factors for seeking or avoiding information on sensitive topics like race and policing, with political orientation also influencing information avoidance behaviour (Kelly et al., 2021). Furthermore, individuals with high emotional eating tendencies tend to avoid emotional content, especially negative faces, indicating a link between emotional regulation strategies and information avoidance (Deroost & Cserjési, 2018).

Various factors contribute to the avoidance of negative news, including personal characteristics, news genre preferences, and contextual factors at the country level. Studies have found that demographic factors, political beliefs, and genre preferences can all impact an individual’s tendency to avoid certain types of news (Toff & Kalogeropoulos, 2020). Additionally, personality traits such as neuroticism may influence the desire for positive news among cancer patients (Ehsani et al., 2022). Other reasons for intentional news avoidance may include a preference for other activities, fatigue from negative news, and concerns about bias or reliability (Gorski, 2023). Interestingly, research conducted in China suggests that news overload and emotional impact can also influence news avoidance behaviour, with demographic factors having less of an impact on social media news consumers (Ni et al., 2023).

The influence of emotions on news consumption cannot be overstated, particularly when it comes to avoiding bad news (Song, 2017). People tend to steer clear of negative news due to the anxiety it can cause, as well as the perception that it lacks practical value (Toff & Kalogeropoulos, 2020). Emotional factors such as fear and anxiety can contribute to this avoidance tendency. When it comes to delivering bad news, strong emotions like anxiety, guilt, and fear can make communication a challenging task (Wein, 2024). Coping mechanisms like magical thinking, which is the belief that one’s thoughts, wishes, or words can influence the physical world in nonscientific ways, can also impact how bad news is perceived and processed, affecting engagement with such news. Thus, emotions not only shape how individuals approach or avoid bad news, but also influence the communication and reception of such news (Guo et al., 2023). It is clear that emotions play a complex and important role in shaping news avoidance behaviours.

When it comes to university students, they are especially prone to avoiding bad news due to a combination of personal traits, emotions, and environment. Certain personality traits, such as neuroticism, can make students prefer positive news, especially when dealing with challenges like health issues. Emotions also play a significant role, as anxiety and fear often drive students to avoid bad news, perceiving it as lacking practical value. The university environment can also contribute to this, with academic pressure, social comparisons, exposure to negative news on social media, and concerns about bias or reliability in news sources leading to information overload and fatigue (Sobczak et al., 2023; Tian, 2022; Wu et al., 2023). Understanding this behaviour is crucial for supporting students’ well-being and academic success, as it can lead to increased anxiety, decreased motivation, and poorer academic performance.

Emotional styles are unique ways in which individuals adapt and respond to the world. They include dimensions such as outlook, resilience, social intuition, self-awareness, sensitivity to context, and attention (Bilucaglia et al., 2022; Kesebir et al., 2019) (Table 1). The Emotional Style Questionnaire (ESQ) is a self-report measure that assesses variations across these six dimensions, providing an overall score of emotional health (Frevert, 2022). The ESQ has been validated in different languages, to understand cultural nuances in emotional responses within populations (Kantola, 2014).

Emotional styles and decision-making are closely connected, as shown by several studies. Rajkumar et al. (2023) found that decision-making styles, such as rational and avoidant, significantly impact academic procrastination among Indian students, highlighting the influence of emotions on procrastination. Furthermore, the research of Lonbani et al. (2023) emphasises the role of emotional intelligence (EI), defined as the ability to perceive, use, understand, manage, and handle emotions, in improving decision-making among higher education teachers. It indicates that EI plays a crucial role in stress-coping strategies, social self-efficacy, and decision-making styles, ultimately affecting teaching quality and teacher attrition rates. Ghosh (2021) indicates that EI plays a significant role in shaping the decision-making approaches of managers. Different decisionmaking styles are associated with varying levels of emotional intelligence. Furthermore, emotional labour, defined as the process of managing feelings and expressions to fulfil the emotional requirements of a job, has been identified as a mediating factor that amplifies managers’ decisionmaking styles in the IT industry, highlighting a strong connection between emotional intelligence, emotional labour, and decision-making capabilities (Ramirobass, 2021). Additionally, Ulyukin et al. (2022) discovered that emotional creativity, defined as the ability to experience and express original, appropriate, and authentic combinations of emotions, is a key factor in decision-making processes, particularly in dealing with uncertainty post-COVID-19, highlighting the significance of emotional factors in decision-making scenarios. These studies collectively underscore the complex relationship between emotional styles, decision-making processes, and various outcomes in academic and professional settings.

Students often engage in information avoidance, especially when overwhelmed by negative news cycles. Research shows that high levels of information overload can lead to increased anxiety and stress among students, prompting them to avoid consuming news as a coping mechanism (Tandoc & Kim, 2022; Toff & Kalogeropoulos, 2020). For example, a study found that students who engaged in avoidance behaviours experienced more negative emotions and fewer positive emotions, indicating a direct link between avoidance and emotional distress (Ziegler, 2022). Additionally, during the COVID-19 pandemic, many young adults avoided news due to its negative content, which worsened feelings of anxiety and emotional fatigue (Soroya et al., 2021). This pattern of news avoidance can create a cycle where disengagement with important information contributes to misinformation beliefs and emotional distress, highlighting the complex relationship between emotional responses and information-seeking behaviours among students (Song, 2017).

As mentioned, there have been some studies on how emotions can affect decision-making, but there is still a significant gap in the research when it comes to understanding how different emotional styles contribute to information avoidance as a decision-making strategy. In summary, the interaction between emotional styles and information avoidance is intricate and multifaceted. Understanding the influence of these elements on decision-making can offer valuable insights into the behaviours of students and others when faced with negative news.

The current study is causal. Emotional styles are the independent variable, and information avoidance is the dependent variable.

To address the research inquiries, the Pearson correlation was utilised to examine the relationships between various emotional styles and information avoidance. The findings are presented in Table 6. It was revealed that, of all the emotional styles, only resilience (r=.227, p=.001) and sensitivity to context (r=.206, p=.003) exhibited a statistically significant positive influence on information avoidance.

Following the findings of Table 3, a stepwise regression analysis was conducted, wherein resilience and sensitivity to context were included as predictors to examine their collective ability to predict information avoidance (Table 7).

The findings from the stepwise regression analysis on predicting information avoidance using resilience and sensitivity to context indicate that the model is effective in making predictions. The results show that resilience on its own is able to predict information avoidance (F(1, 198)=10.796, p=.001, R²=.227), accounting for 22.7% of the variance (B=.237, p=.001). Furthermore, when both resilience and sensitivity to context are considered together, they are able to predict information avoidance (F(1, 197)=7.701, p<.001, R²=.269). In this combined model, resilience explains 18.2% of the variance (B=.190, p=.012) and sensitivity to context explains 15.1% of the variance (B=.168, p=.037). Essentially, an increase in both resilience and sensitivity to context is associated with a significant increase in information avoidance with regard to negative news (Figure 2).

The investigation found that among different emotional traits, resilience and sensitivity to context were the only factors that showed a strong positive correlation with the tendency to avoid information about bad news. This finding is especially important in the context of students, who often encounter specific emotional difficulties in academic environments.

Resilience, which is the ability to bounce back from adversity and adapt to change, is crucial for students in managing their emotional well-being. To protect their mental health, resilient students may choose to avoid negative news, especially during high-stress periods like exams or project deadlines. Constant exposure to distressing news can increase stress levels and make students feel helpless, which undermines their resilience. By selectively ignoring bad news, students can maintain a positive outlook, which is essential for tackling academic challenges effectively and recovering from setbacks (Tugade & Fredrickson, 2004).

In addition, resilient students usually use proactive strategies to solve problems and manage stress. They focus on positive and actionable information instead of negative news, which helps them save emotional energy for more productive activities. This selective approach to information not only improves their resilience but also leads to a healthier emotional state, which is crucial for academic success (Yi et al., 2020).

The strong link between being sensitive to context and the inclination to avoid negative news can be explained by looking at emotional regulation and adaptive coping strategies. Sensitivity to context means how well someone can understand and react to situational cues, which greatly affects their emotional reactions and decision-making (Hillebrandt et al., 2022). For students, this means that those who are highly attuned to their environment may strategically avoid distressing information, particularly when the context suggests potential social or emotional turmoil, such as during group projects or collaborative learning scenarios (Case et al., 2005). This adaptive behaviour helps students reduce immediate emotional distress, enabling better information processing when they are emotionally prepared (Rosenzweig, 2012).

Furthermore, sensitivity to context involves recognising when to engage with potentially distressing information while balancing the need for emotional well-being. This thoughtful approach aligns with theories of emotional intelligence, where students adept at navigating emotional contexts may use avoidance strategies judiciously to protect their mental health without sacrificing overall awareness of their surroundings (Hillebrandt et al., 2022; Tranberg & Brodin, 2023). Thus, the strong correlation highlights the adaptive nature of sensitivity to context in managing emotional responses to difficult information and underscores its role in maintaining psychological resilience and interpersonal relationships.

On the other hand, the weak connection between outlook, social intuition, self-awareness, attention, and the inclination to steer clear of negative news might indicate the intricate nature of emotional tendencies and information-processing methods in students. While aspects like social intuition may impact the preference for positive or negative news, they do not necessarily determine avoidance behaviours. Instead, these aspects contribute to broader cognitive and emotional regulation processes that differ among individuals, influencing how they react to potentially distressing information (Scherer et al., 2022).

Additionally, outlook, defined as one’s general perspective or mindset, encompasses diverse cognitive styles that may not consistently predispose individuals towards avoiding negative news, depending on situational context and personal coping strategies. Hence, while these factors are integral to emotional and cognitive functioning, their specific influence on information avoidance in the context of emotional dispositions appears nuanced and multifaceted.

In summary, this study emphasises the important role of emotional styles—specifically resilience and sensitivity to context—in influencing university students’ tendencies to avoid negative information. The results suggest that resilient students often use strategic information avoidance as a way to cope with stress and maintain their emotional well-being, particularly during challenging academic periods. By selectively ignoring distressing news, these students may protect their mental health and concentrate on positive, actionable information that supports their academic success. Similarly, sensitivity to context may allow students to effectively navigate their emotional environments and avoid distressing information when it is most harmful to their wellbeing.

The study has a few limitations that need to be addressed. Firstly, the sample size and composition of this study included 200 university students from a single institution, with a predominance of female participants. This may limit the generalisability of the findings. Future research should seek a more diverse sample across multiple institutions and demographic groups. However, it is worth noting that the results of this study can be applied to similar groups within academic contexts. Other contexts still require replication of this study for comparison. Secondly, the study’s reliance on self-reported measures of emotional styles raises concerns about potential biases and inaccuracies. To enhance the validity of these findings, it is recommended that future research incorporate additional instruments, such as structured interviews, to gain a more nuanced understanding of participants’ emotional experiences and expressions. Additionally, potential confounding variables, such as prior experiences with negative news and psychological well-being, were not controlled for and should be considered in future research.

To summarise, this study emphasises the important roles of resilience and sensitivity to context in influencing information avoidance behaviours, especially when it comes to negative news. The results show that individuals with higher resilience tend to avoid negative information to protect their mental well-being and maintain a positive outlook. Similarly, those with heightened sensitivity to context strategically avoid negative news to regulate their emotional state and preserve intrapersonal harmony. These behaviours represent adaptive emotional regulation strategies to reduce immediate distress and promote better emotional and cognitive functioning.

The findings of this study have practical implications for mental health professionals, educators, and policymakers. Understanding the impact of resilience and sensitivity to context on information avoidance can help tailor interventions to enhance these emotional styles in individuals. For example, implementing resilience training programs and mindfulness practices can help individuals cope more effectively with distressing information. Educational institutions can also integrate EI curricula to develop sensitivity to context, enabling students to better manage their emotional responses in different situations. These practical applications can lead to improved mental health outcomes and more adaptive coping strategies when facing adverse news, ultimately fostering a more emotionally resilient society.

On a theoretical level, this study contributes to a broader understanding of emotional regulation and information processing by highlighting the specific emotional styles that influence information avoidance behaviours. It fills a gap in the literature by providing empirical evidence on how resilience and sensitivity to context interact with information-seeking and avoidance mechanisms. These findings suggest that emotional styles are crucial determinants of how individuals process and respond to negative information, offering a nuanced perspective on the interplay between emotions and cognition.

In future research, it is important to explore the complex connections between different emotional styles and the behaviour of avoiding information. Studies should go beyond emotional styles and also look into emotional features like different emotional states, emotional regulation and temporal emotions to understand how they individually and together affect information avoidance. Longitudinal studies can help us understand how these connections change over time and at different stages of life. Additionally, it would be valuable to investigate how emotional styles and information avoidance differ across cultures to gain a more global perspective. Using experimental designs to manipulate emotional states can provide insights into causal relationships, which can improve our theoretical and practical understanding of how to reduce harmful information avoidance and encourage adaptive coping methods in diverse populations.

It is essential to consider the specific context of university students to understand the implications of this study. Students face unique academic pressures and are frequently exposed to distressing news. Therefore, fostering resilience and contextual sensitivity can significantly enhance their coping mechanisms. By equipping students with the skills to navigate negative information effectively, educational institutions can promote not only better academic performance but also overall well-being. This focus on emotional styles in relation to information avoidance underscores the importance of developing targeted interventions that address the specific needs of students as they confront challenging news in their academic journeys.