Information avoidance
Information is normally considered as a mean to a desired end. However, a growing theoretical and experimental literature suggested that information may directly enter the agent’s utility function. This can create an incentive to avoid information, even when it is useful, free, and independent of strategic considerations. In this study, the researchers have reviewed information avoidance, as well as theoretical and empirical researches that discussed the reasons why people avoid information, depending on the economical researches, psychological researches, and other disciplines. The study also discussed some of the diverse (and often costly) individual and societal consequences of information avoidance.