A new study by Prof. Yaniv Shani of the Coller School of Management at Tel Aviv University and Prof. Marcel Zeelenberg of the Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences reveals a surprising insight into how we deal with information. Contrary to the common view that “willful ignorance” is primarily a way to avoid moral responsibility toward others, the study offers a much broader explanation: at times we avoid information—and at times we deliberately seek painful information—to regulate our own emotions and manage psychological overload.
Why we sometimes avoid the truth and other times can’t stop looking for it
-
While millions of people make the effort to sort their recycling, buy fewer clothes and generally make greener choices, the world’s wealthiest can emit the same amount of carbon as the average person does in [...]
-
A study conducted during the 2024 French elections finds that information about immigrants’ efforts to overcome poverty and learn French reduces negative beliefs about immigration and modestly decreases opposition to immigration among voters. The study [...]
-
Over half of Americans believe tech companies should take action to restrict extremely violent content on their platforms, according to Pew data, yet even trained content moderators consistently disagree in their decisions about how to [...]
-
A study from a team of researchers that includes faculty from the University of California San Diego and Princeton University shows how a mix of subsidies for clean energy and taxes on pollution can significantly [...]
-
The gap between rich and poor has reached historic highs. According to the World Inequality Report 2026, released in recent weeks, the richest 10% of the global population now receive 53% of all income and [...]
-
At the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, write the authors of a new article from Polity, neoliberalism was “consolidated as the only legitimate form of doing politics.” But in [...]
-
New research from the University of St Andrews has found that increases in women’s parliamentary representation within a country are related to enhanced public trust in the national parliament.This post was originally published on this [...]
-
A group of college students braved the frigid New England weather on Dec. 13, 2025, to attend a late afternoon review session at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Eleven of those students were struck [...]
-
Americans living in political “swing states” have a significantly louder voice in national trade policy—effectively making their votes worth more than others—according to a new study published in the Journal of International Economics.This post was [...]
-
If you wander through Glasgow Green, you’ll encounter the Doulton fountain, a gaudy terracotta tribute to empire that features “native” and colonial figures in national dress holding out the produce of their lands to the [...]
