Applying the theory of motivated information management to family health history

Abstract

AbstractThis study applied the theory of motivated information management (TMIM) to examine how married couples manage uncertainty about partners' family health history. Spouses reported (N = 626) on TMIM variables and information seeking/provision at Time 1 and on actual information seeking/provision behavior 3 weeks later. Findings largely supported paths proposed in the TMIM, but the model did not predict actual information management behaviors. As the first TMIM study to analyze dyadic, two‐wave data, results underscore the interdependent nature of information management processes in that seeker's efficacy assessments were associated with provider's direct information provision, and these effects were mediated by provider's perceptions of seeker efficacy assessments. Information seeker's perceptions did not play as significant a role in the process.