Examining the Theory of Motivated Information Management (TMIM) in the COVID-19 Pandemic

In order to inform understanding of the public's health information management during the COVID-19 pandemic, we applied a modification of TMIM from a serial mediation model to a conditional process model (moderated mediation). In doing so, the current study attempted to refine some of the relat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of health communication 2022-05, Vol.27 (5), p.326-342
Main Authors: Ju, Ilwoo, Ohs, Jennifer, Park, Taehwan, Hinsley, Amber
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Communication theory
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Efficacy
Health information
Individual differences
Information management
Information seeking behavior
Pandemics
Uncertainty
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Summary:In order to inform understanding of the public's health information management during the COVID-19 pandemic, we applied a modification of TMIM from a serial mediation model to a conditional process model (moderated mediation). In doing so, the current study attempted to refine some of the relational propositions of the original TMIM with a focus on efficacy while addressing the distinction between a mediator and a moderator in a behavioral decision model. Findings from an online survey of U.S. adults (n = 488) demonstrated that anxiety can positively motivate evaluation of information seeking during the COVID-19 pandemic context, a unique context of application for TMIM. Efficacy was found to be qualified as an individual difference variable that moderates the relationships of uncertainty perception and health decision. Our newly proposed conditional process framework of the TMIM opens research directions in health information-seeking and encourages researchers to continuously incorporate updated methodological thought and approach in applying and building communication theory.
ISSN:1081-0730
1087-0415
DOI:10.1080/10810730.2022.2107737