An Examination of the Relationships Among Uncertainty, Appraisal, and Information-Seeking Behavior Proposed in Uncertainty Management Theory

Health Communication

Volumn 30, Issue 4, 2015, Pages 339-349

  Rains, Stephen A ^a   Tukachinsky, Riva ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA   (United States)

^b CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ADOLESCENT; ADULT; ATTITUDE TO HEALTH; CONTROLLED STUDY; FEMALE; HUMAN; INFORMATION SEEKING; INTERNET; MALE; MOTIVATION; PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY; PSYCHOLOGY; RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL; SKIN TUMOR; UNCERTAINTY; UTILIZATION; YOUNG ADULT;

ADOLESCENT; ADULT; FEMALE; HEALTH KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, PRACTICE; HUMANS; INFORMATION SEEKING BEHAVIOR; INTERNET; MALE; MOTIVATION; PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY; SKIN NEOPLASMS; UNCERTAINTY; YOUNG ADULT;

EID: 84921840344     PISSN: 10410236     EISSN: 15327027     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2013.858285     Document Type: Article

References (42)

1. Afifi, W. A., & Weiner, J. L. (2006). Toward a theory of motivated information management. Communication Theory, 2, 167–190. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2885.2004.tb00310.x
2. Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. London, UK: Sage.
3. Babrow, A. S., Kasch, C. R., & Ford, L. A. (1998). The many meanings of uncertainty in illness: Toward a systematic accounting. Health Communication, 10, 1–23. doi:10.1207/s15327027hc1001_1
4. Barbour, J. B., Rintamaki, L. S., Ramsey, J. A., & Brashers, D. E. (2012). Avoiding heath information. Journal of Health Communication, 17,212–229.
5. Berger, C. R., & Calabrese, R. J. (1975). Some explorations in initial interaction and beyond: Toward a developmental theory of interpersonal communication. Human Communication Research, 1, 99–112.
6. Berger, C. R., & Kellermann, K. (1994). Acquiring social information. In J. A. Daly & J. M. Wiemann (Eds.), Strategic interpersonal communication (pp. 1–31). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
7. Block, L. G., & Keller, P. A. (1995). When to accentuate the negative: The effects of perceived efficacy and message framing on intentions to perform a health-related behavior. Journal of Marketing Research, 32, 192–203.
8. Brashers, D. E. (2001). Communication and uncertainty management. Journal of Communication, 51, 477–497. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2001.tb02892.x
9. Brashers, D. E. (2007). A theory of communication and uncertainty management. In B. Whaley & W. Samter (Ed.), Explaining communication theory (pp. 201–218). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
10. Brashers, D. E., & Hogan, T. P. (2013). The appraisal and management of uncertainty: Implications for information-retrieval systems. Information Processing and Management, 49, 1241–1249.
11. Brashers, D. E., Neidig, J. L., Haas, S. M., Dobbs, L. K., Cardillo, L. W., & Russell, J. A. (2000). Communication in the management of uncertainty: The case of persons living with HIV or AIDS. Communication Monographs, 67, 63–84. doi:10.1080/03637750009376495
12. Brashers, D. E., Neidig, J. L., Russell, J. A., Cardillo, L. W., Haas, S. M., Dobbs, L. K., … Nemeth, S. (2003). The medical, personal, and social causes of uncertainty in HIV illness. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 24, 497–522.
13. Bylund, C. L., Fisher, C. L., Brashers, D., Edgerson, S., Glogowski, E. A., Boyar, S. R., … Kissane, D. (2012). Sources of uncertainty about daughters’ breast cancer risk that emerge during genetic counseling consultations. Journal of Genetic Counseling, 21, 292–304.
14. Case, D., Andrews, J. E., Johnson, J. D., & Allard, S. L. (2005). Avoiding versus seeking: The relationship of information seeking to avoidance, blunting, coping, dissonance and related concepts. Journal of the Medical Libraries Association, 93, 353–362.
15. DeLorme, D., & Huh, J. (2009). Seniors’ uncertainty management of direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising usefulness. Health Communication, 24, 494–503.
16. Dillard, J. P., & Carson, C. L. (2005). Uncertainty management following a positive newborn screening for cystic fibrosis. Journal of Health Communication, 10, 57–76. doi:10.1080/10810730590904580
17. Donovan-Kicken, E., & Bute, J. J. (2008). Uncertainty of social network members in the case of communication-debilitating illness or injury. Qualitative Health Research, 18, 5–18.
18. Folkman, S., & Lazarus, R. S. (1985). If it changes it must be a process: Study of emotion and coping during three stages of a college examination. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48, 150–170.
19. Fox, S. (2011). The social life of health information, 2011. Pew Internet & American Life Project. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org
20. Hayes, A. F. (2009). Beyond Baron and Kenny: Statistical mediation analysis in the new millennium. Communication Monographs, 76,408–420.
21. Hogan, T. P., & Brashers, D. E. (2009). The theory of communication and uncertainty management: Implications from the wider realm of information behavior. In T. D. Afifi & W. A. Afifi (Eds.), Uncertainty, information management, and disclosure decisions: Theories and applications (pp. 45–66). New York, NY: Routledge.
22. Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6, 1–55. doi:10.1080/10705519909540118
23. Hullett, C. R. (2005). The impact of mood on persuasion: A meta-analysis. Communication Research, 32, 423–442. doi:10.1177/0093650205277317
24. Junghans, T. B., Sevin, I. F., Ionin, B., & Seifried, H. (2004). Cancer information resources: Digital and online sources. Toxicology, 198, 177–193.
25. Kellermann, K., & Reynolds, R. (1990). When ignorance is bliss: The role of motivation to reduce uncertainty in uncertainty reduction theory. Human Communication Research, 17, 5–75.
26. Krippendorff, K. (2004). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
27. Lazarus, R. S. (1991). Emotion and adaptation. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
28. Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York, NY: Springer.
29. Mackie, D. M., & Worth, L.T. (1989). Processing deficits and the mediation of positive affect in persuasion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 27–40. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.57.1.27
30. McMath, B. F., & Prentice‐Dunn, S. (2005). Protection motivation theory and skin cancer risk: The role of individual differences in responses to persuasive appeals. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 35, 621–643. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2005.tb02138.x
31. Miller, S. M. (1980). When is a little information a dangerous thing? Coping with stressful life- events by monitoring vs. blunting. In S. Levine & H. Ursin (Eds.), Coping and health (pp. 145–169). New York, NY: Plenum Press.
32. Miller, S. M. (1987). Monitoring and blunting: Validation of a questionnaire to assess styles of information seeking under threat. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 345–353.
33. Mishel, M. H. (1988). Uncertainty in illness. Image: Journal of Nursing Research, 20, 225–232.
34. Mishel, M. H., & Sorenson, D. S. (1991). Uncertainty in gynecological cancer: A test of the mediating functions of mastery and coping. Nursing Research, 40, 167–171.
35. National Cancer Institute. (2005) Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS). Retrieved from http://hints.cancer.gov
36. National Cancer Institute. (2013a). Skin cancer. Retrieved from http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/skin
37. National Cancer Institute. (2013b). Melanoma. Retrieved from http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/melanoma
38. Osterwalder, U., & Herzog, B. (2009). Sun protection factors: World wide confusion. British Journal of Dermatology, 161, 13–24. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2133.2009.09506.x
39. Padilla, G. V., Mishel, M. H., & Grant, M. M. (1992). Uncertainty, appraisal and quality of life. Quality of Life Research, 1, 155–165.
40. Prentice-Dunn, S., Jones, J. L., & Floyd, D. L. (1997). Persuasive appeals and the reduction of skin cancer risk: The roles of appearance concern, perceived benefits of a tan, and efficacy information. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 27, 1041–1047.
41. Rains, S. A., & Keating, D. M. (2011). The social dimension of blogging about health: Health blogging, social support, and well-being. Communication Monographs, 78, 511–534.
42. Wright, K. B., Johnson, A. J., Averbeck, J., & Bernard, D. (2011). Computer-mediated social support groups: Promises and pitfalls for individuals coping with health concerns. In T. L. Thompson, R. Parrott, & J. F. Nussbaum (Eds.), Handbook of health communication (pp. 349–362). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.