Defense Information Insufficiency and Biased Information Use Behavior: Extending the Risk Information Seeking and Processing Model

Abstract Controversies have surrounded the COVID-19 pandemic. People encountering COVID-19-related opinions that oppose their own are likely to find their deeply held beliefs questioned and their personal integrity threatened, which can compel them into defensiveness. Consequently, to serve the goal of defending their beliefs, they might seek and process COVID-19 information in ways that are consistent with their beliefs. To examine risk information seeking and processing for this defensive informational goal, we applied the risk information seeking and processing model (Griffin, Dunwoody, & Yang, 2013), and extended it by (1) systematically explicating the concept of defense information insufficiency (the perceived information needed to preserve one’s enduring beliefs) and (2) exploring the antecedents and effects of defense information insufficiency. We conducted an online survey of Hong Kong adults aged 18 years and older and collected 830 responses. The findings showed that fear and informational subjective norms increased defense information insufficiency, which influenced the engagement in selective risk information use behavior. Informational subjective norms had also positively influenced selective information use. As a result, people were likely to be exposed to homogeneous information. Implications on polarization are discussed.