I examine whether people's beliefs and prior exposure to dissonant information drive information avoidance. More specifically, I focus on the topic of abortion and consider two main beliefs on abortion: anti-abortion (opposes abortion rights) and pro-choice (advocates abortion rights). In experiments with US respondents, I first vary the exposure to prior information - whether the information participants receive is in line with or contrary to their beliefs. I then measure avoidance of dissonant information. Overall, 43% of the participants are willing to avoid dissonant information at a material cost. Prior exposure to dissonant or consonant information is insignificant, however, what matters is the prior beliefs. Being anti-abortion or pro-choice explains the difference in willingness to pay to avoid dissonant information. Anti-abortion participants are willing to spend a substantially higher proportion of their money (10%) to avoid reading a dissonant article than pro-choice participants, suggesting that no matter what prior information one is exposed to, the belief one is holding explains the intensity of information avoidance.

Zoom Link

Meeting ID: 986 9191 8253

Passcode: 367899