How the Intellectually Humble Seek and Use Information

Abstract

AbstractAddressing humanity’s grand challenges requires productive dialogue. One way to improve dialogue is by helping people build skills in dealing with information using an approach rooted in the intellectual virtues. There are a number of intellectual virtues, but a recent line of multidisciplinary research suggests beginning with intellectual humility (IH) as a cornerstone. At heart, IH is being open to the possibility that one might be mistaken. It has been defined as recognizing one’s intellectual limitations, having little concern with intellect-derived social status, and accurately valuing one’s beliefs according to the evidence. IH has obvious relevance to the information field, but to date there has been scant mention of IH in the information literature. This short paper reports on the first study connecting measures of IH to information seeking and use, a quantitative online survey with 201 participants. The results of this study suggest that individuals with higher IH are more likely to: be older; favor easily accessible information sources; search in multiple places for information; and find that discovering information ignites further interest in their search. Moreover, those with higher IH are less likely to look upon themselves negatively, or think others would, for using a given information source. These findings suggest avenues for further research on IH and information behavior, literacy and design.KeywordsIntellectual humilityIntellectual virtuesInformation behaviorInformation seekingInformation use