scholarly journals Lower Levels of Directed Exploration and Reflective Thinking Are Associated With Greater Anxiety and Depression

2022 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Smith ◽  
Samuel Taylor ◽  
Robert C. Wilson ◽  
Anne E. Chuning ◽  
Michelle R. Persich ◽  
...  

Anxiety and depression are often associated with strong beliefs that entering specific situations will lead to aversive outcomes – even when these situations are objectively safe and avoiding them reduces well-being. A possible mechanism underlying this maladaptive avoidance behavior is a failure to reflect on: (1) appropriate levels of uncertainty about the situation, and (2) how this uncertainty could be reduced by seeking further information (i.e., exploration). To test this hypothesis, we asked a community sample of 416 individuals to complete measures of reflective cognition, exploration, and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Consistent with our hypotheses, we found significant associations between each of these measures in expected directions (i.e., positive relationships between reflective cognition and strategic information-seeking behavior or “directed exploration”, and negative relationships between these measures and anxiety/depression symptoms). Further analyses suggested that the relationship between directed exploration and depression/anxiety was due in part to an ambiguity aversion promoting exploration in conditions where information-seeking was not beneficial (as opposed to only being due to under-exploration when more information would aid future choices). In contrast, reflectiveness was associated with greater exploration in appropriate settings and separately accounted for differences in reaction times, decision noise, and choice accuracy in expected directions. These results shed light on the mechanisms underlying information-seeking behavior and how they may contribute to symptoms of emotional disorders. They also highlight the potential clinical relevance of individual differences in reflectiveness and exploration and should motivate future research on their possible contributions to vulnerability and/or maintenance of affective disorders.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Smith ◽  
Samuel Taylor ◽  
Robert C Wilson ◽  
Annie E. Chuning ◽  
Michelle Persich ◽  
...  

Anxiety and depression are often associated with strong beliefs that entering specific situations will lead to aversive outcomes – even when these situations are objectively safe and avoiding them reduces well-being. A possible mechanism underlying this maladaptive avoidance behavior is a failure to reflect on: 1) appropriate levels of uncertainty about the situation, and 2) how this uncertainty could be reduced by seeking further information (i.e., exploration). To test this hypothesis, we asked a community sample of 417 individuals to complete measures of reflective cognition, exploration, and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Consistent with our hypotheses, we found significant associations between each of these measures in expected directions (i.e., positive relationships between reflective cognition and strategic information-seeking behavior or “directed exploration”, and negative relationships between these measures and anxiety/depression symptoms). Further analyses suggested that the relationship between directed exploration and depression/anxiety was due to an ambiguity aversion promoting exploration in conditions where information-seeking was not beneficial (as opposed to under-exploration when more information would aid future choices). In contrast, reflectiveness was associated with greater exploration in appropriate settings and separately accounted for differences in reaction times, decision noise, and choice accuracy in expected directions. These results shed light on the mechanisms underlying information-seeking behavior and how they may contribute to symptoms of emotional disorders. They also highlight the possibility that reflectiveness and exploration could represent novel treatment targets for those who show low levels of these tendencies – consistent with the need to develop individualized precision medicine approaches within computational psychiatry.


Edulib ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fauzan Abdi ◽  
Margareta Aulia Rachman

Abstract. This research identifies the information seeking behavior of women who reside in the slum area of Kampung Poncol, Jakarta, Indonesia in the fulfillment of the triple role; those are reproductive, productive, and social. A qualitative approach with phenomenology method is used in this research while the data are collected by non-participant observation and in-depth interview with six participants. The results of this research show that the steps of information seeking behavior of those women are the initiation, selection, formulation, collection, and presentation; while the exploration step does not appear at all. Based on the role of reproduction needed by the informants in relation to their role as housewives, the information needed by the women are about the price of basic commodities, family healthcare and well-being, children education, as well as information about the flood. On the productive role, the information needed are vary among the informants depends on their occupations. While for the social role, the information needed by the informants are related to personal health, fashion, entertainment, and politics. The primary source of information is informal source those are relatives and neighbors.


2021 ◽  
pp. 99-110
Author(s):  
Yushiana Mansor

Provides an overview on the significance of studying information seeking behavior of children to enhance the role of school libraries. The literature on children's information seeking behavior is reviewed and integrated into the perspective of school library services. Discussion on the different models of information seeking is presented. Focuses on children's information seeking behavior in the electronic environment. Outlines issues related to children's access and barriers to information. An analysis of research methodology used is provided. Offers suggestions on the future research direction with emphasis on the Malaysian school libraries environment.


Author(s):  
Dan Bouhnik ◽  
Yahel Giat ◽  
Issachar Zarruk

Aim/Purpose: To develop and introduce a questionnaire that investigates the informing needs, information-seeking behavior, and supplier selection of procurement officers in Israel. The questionnaire’s internal consistency reliability is given. Additionally, we describe the demographic description of the procurement officers in Israel. Background: Procurement science is an important field that affects firms’ profits in the private sector and is significant to growth, innovation, sustainability, and welfare in the public sector. There is little research about the informing needs of procurement officers in general and particularly in Israel. Methodology: A quantitative questionnaire that is sent to all the procurement officers in Israel’s procuring association. Contribution: The questionnaire that is developed in this paper may be used by other researchers and practitioners to evaluate the information needs of procurement officers. Findings: The typical procurement officer is male, with a bachelor degree and is digitally proficient. Recommendations for Practitioners: The procuring side can use the questionnaire to develop better tools for obtaining information efficiently. The supplying side can use this knowledge to improve its exposure to potential customers and address its customer’s needs better. Recommendation for Researchers: The questionnaire can address theoretical questions such as how digital literacy affects the procuring process and provide empirical findings about active research areas such as supplier selection and information-seeking behavior. Future Research: Future research will examine the relationship between the various variables and demographic features to understand why specific information needs and information-seeking behaviors arise.


Author(s):  
JiWoon Yoo ◽  
Jinkook Tak

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among newcomers’ proactive personality, information seeking behavior and organizational socialization. Specifically, This study investigated not only the main effect of newcomers’ proactive personality on information seeking behaviors which related to job and relationship building, and organizational socialization but also the moderating roles of team climate and leader behaviors on the relationships between proactive personality and information seeking behaviors, and between information seeking behaviors and organizational socialization. Online survey was conducted to 151 korean employees working for at least 3 months to 6 months and 151data were obtained for statistical analysis. Three steps of analysis procedures were carried out. First, correlation analysis was conducted and the results showed that there were positive relationship among main variables such as proactive personality, information seeking behavior, organizational socialization and etc. Second, the results of structural equitation model analyses showed that newcomers’ information seeking behaviors fully mediate proactive personality and organizational socialization. Third the results of hierarchial regression analyses showed that while leader behaviors which were specified to feedback behavior and consideration behavior moderated the relationship between information seeking behaviors and organizational socialization, Team openness did not moderate the relationship between proactive personality and information seeking behaviors. The implications and limitations of this study and the directions for future research were discussed on the basis of the results.


10.28945/3686 ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Bouhnik ◽  
Yahel Giat ◽  
Issachar Zarruk

Aim/Purpose: [This Proceedings paper was revised and published in Informing Science: the International Journal of an Emerging Transdiscipline (InfoSci)] To develop and introduce a questionnaire that investigates the informing needs, information-seeking behavior, and supplier selection of procurement officers in Israel. The questionnaire’s internal consistency reliability is given. Additionally, we describe the demographic description of the procurement officers in Israel. Background: Procurement science is an important field that affects firms’ profits in the private sector and is significant to growth, innovation, sustainability, and welfare in the public sector. There is little research about the informing needs of procurement officers in general and particularly in Israel. Methodology: A quantitative questionnaire that is sent to all the procurement officers in Israel’s purchasing and logistics managers association. Contribution: The questionnaire that is developed in this paper may be used by other researchers and practitioners to evaluate the informing needs of procurement officers. Findings: The typical procurement officer is male, with a bachelor degree and is digitally proficient. Recommendations for Practitioners: The procuring side can use the questionnaire to develop better tools for obtaining information efficiently. The supplying side can use this knowledge to improve its exposure to potential customers and address its customer’s needs better. Recommendation for Researchers: The questionnaire can address theoretical questions such as how digital literacy affects the procurement process and provide empirical findings about active research areas such as supplier selection and information-seeking behavior. Future Research: Future research will examine the relationship between the various variables and demographic features to understand why specific informing needs and information-seeking behaviors arise.


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