Demystifying the Role of Goal-Related Processes in Explaining the Effects of Emotion on Information-Seeking Decisions

Adopting componential and appraisal approaches to emotion, this commentary highlights how Moors' goal-directed theory allows a deep analysis of the role of emotion in information-seeking decisions. We illustrate how (i) the opportunity to gain information can signal discrepancies with multiple goals, which are reduced by seeking or avoiding information, (ii) goalrelated appraisals and goal satisfaction may partly account for the rewarding properties of information, (iii) practical rationality can explain seemingly irrational information-seeking behaviors, and (iv) biased goal priorization and appraisal biases could lead to maladaptive information-seeking. We suggest that appraisal and goal-directed theories may complement current theoretical frameworks of information-seeking by providing a mechanistic approach to understanding how the evaluation and selection of goals, behavioral strategies, and actions influence information-seeking.