THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INFORMATIONSEEKING SCALE FOR DIFFERENT DOMAINS
Brock Brothers & Jennifer Vonk, Oakland University
Methods
Introduction
Proponents of the dual process model
suggest that there are two underlying and
contrasting cognitive systems responsible
for how we make decisions, rationalize and
seek information. System one encompasses
our automatic and implicit processes and
system two comprises our analytic and
deductive
processes
(Evans,
2003).
Psychometrically valid measures assessing
individual information-seeking behavior
patterns relative to these cognitive systems
have yet to be examined in an array of
specific domains. Thus, we developed a
novel scale - the Information-Seeking
Strategy Scale (ISSS) to assess the
consistency of information-seeking behavior
in seven different domains (philosophical
beliefs and traditions, mating and child care,
social relationships, finance and business,
and health).
The ISSS is comprised of 12 items in
each of the seven domains- each with three
to four sub categories (60 items total)introducing hypothetical situations to which
the participant responds on a five-point
Likert scale format (strongly agree/
disagree). An item example in the
philosophical beliefs category is, “I need to
seek real-world evidence to be certain that
my religious beliefs are true .”
Eventually the ISSS scale can be used to
evaluate
the
relationship
between
information
processing
and
other
psychological variables, such as degree of
religiosity, personality, IQ, etc… The use of
this scale can shed further light on the
cognitive mechanisms responsible for the
potential differences in our informationseeking tendencies in different domains.
Two online studies were conducted to confirm the ISSS’s psychometric reliability:
1. Validation of items to domains:
100 Participants categorized each of the ISSS’s potential items into the domain that the
item most clearly belonged to (either philosophical beliefs and traditions, mating and child
care, social relationships, finance, or health). Items with less than 80% agreement were
discarded, which eventually led to 60 final items (12 per domain).
2. Validation of the ISSS scale:
60 participants thus far completed the ISSS along with the following measures:
- General Decision Making Style (GDMS) (Scott & Bruce, 1995)
- Rational Experiential Inventory (REI) (Epstein, Pacini, Denes-Raj, & Heier, 1996)
- Need for Closure Scale (NFC) (Webster & Kruglanski, 1994)
- Situational Test of Emotion Management (STEM) (MacCann & Roberts, 2008)
Discussion
The data from the ISSS
suggests the possibility that
information seeking strategies
tend to be less domain specific
and more domain general.
However, other reliability tests
are needed and underway to
validate this and to continue
strengthening the reliability of
the scale. Future directions
involve testing with more
samples and additional analyses
of consistency with other valid
measures, especially with the
Rational Experiential Inventory.
Because the ISSS already
corresponds to some aspects of
the GDMS, this may indicate the
strong potential it has in the
near future to contribute to the
list of measures reflecting
rationally and intuitively based
cognitive behavior patterns.
These additional measures were used along with a demographic survey to
determine associations with personality and cognitive styles.
References
Results
Bruine de Bruin, W., Parker, A. M., & Fischhoff, B.
(2007). Individual differences in adult decision-making
competence. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 92, 938-956.
Individuals engaging in higher empirical information seeking strategies on the ISSS across all
domains were more likely to score significantly higher on the rational GDMS subscale (β = .424,
t = 3.067, p = .004). Those who demonstrated less empirical information seeking on the ISSS
tended to show more avoidant decision making strategies on the GDMS (β = -.368, t = -2.596, p
= .013). However, the ISSS scores did not predict scores on the GDMS intuitive, dependent, and
spontaneous subscales.
Epstein, S., Pacini, R., Denes-Raj, V., & Heier, H. (1996).
Individual differences in intuitive-experiential and
analytical-rational thinking styles. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 71 (2), 390-405.
ISSS Consistency with the GDMS
ISSS Consistency with the NFCS
Interestingly, individuals with less empirical information seeking strategies on the ISSS tend
to show more close-minded traits based on the NFC close-minded sub scale (β = -.489, t = 3.674, p = .001). All other NFC subscales did not show any significant consistency with the ISSS.
ISSS Internal Reliability
Cronbach’s alpha for the ISSS scale = .809; Cronbach’s alpha of information-seeking
strategies in each specific domain were as follows: philosophical beliefs and traditions= .64;
mating and child care= .50; social relationships= .40; finance= .41; and health= .64
Evans, J. St. B.T. (2003) In two minds: dual-process
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Scott, S. G. & Bruce, R. A. (1995). Decision-making
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Webster, D. M., & Kruglanski, A. W. (1994). Individual
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Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 1049-1062.
Contact: [email protected]