Self-blinding and the benefits of willful ignorance.

While willful ignorance-deliberately choosing to avoid information-is often maladaptive, there are some instances in which willful ignorance is beneficial. Here, we review research on self-blinding-where evaluators consciously avoid learning irrelevant or potentially biasing information about evaluation targets-as a positive instance of willful ignorance. We highlight affective and cognitive forces that influence preferences for self-blinding, including visceral feelings of curiosity and incorrect beliefs about the value of potentially biasing information. We review how the different factors influencing self-blinding preferences suggest different interventions to nudge self-blinding in practice. Finally, we discuss how research on self-blinding can help advance the literature on willful ignorance in general and the growing area of research highlighting the benefits of ignorance in particular.

Duke Scholars

Author Richard P. Larrick Fuqua School of Business