Bad news first—Neuroticism, negative expectations, and preference for negative information

Abstract

Some people appear to specifically search for bad news, or to prefer negatively valenced information more generally. While preferred intake of negative information may serve to confirm one’s existing negative expectations, it may also contribute to negative affect and neuroticism. Conversely, other people may prefer information that allows learning rather than confirming existing expectations and individual differences in such preferences may be linked to trait openness/intellect. To assess associations between information preferences, negative expectations, neuroticism, and openness/intellect, two studies ( N = 300 and N = 161) were conducted. Participants completed a negative expectation questionnaire and rated whether they would like to read the corresponding articles of 48 presented news-headlines. Headlines were construed to suggest that the valence of the corresponding article would either be negative, positive, or neutral and were presented in negative-neutral or positive-neutral pairs. Ratings were provided on 24 bipolar (Study 1) or 48 unipolar (Study 2) items. In line with assumptions, rating-intercorrelations support the existence of general tendencies to prefer negative versus neutral (and positive vs. neutral) news across different topics. Across studies, the tendency to prefer negative versus neutral news was correlated with both generalized negative expectations and neuroticism. Moreover, negative expectations mediated the relationship between neuroticism and preferring negative news, suggesting that negative information preferences may serve to confirm negative expectations in high neuroticism. In contrast, openness/intellect was linked to higher preferences for any news (Study 2) but particularly headlines that indicated high information gain. These findings provide insights into information preferences and mechanisms for stabilizing expectations in personality.