Motives for giving information in non‐work contexts and the expectations of reciprocity. The case of environmental activists

Abstract

AbstractInformation sharing stands for a two‐way activity in which information is given and received in the same context. The present study reviews information sharing from the viewpoint of information giving. The empirical analysis draws on interviews with twenty environmental activists in Finland, 2005. Three major motives for information giving in non‐work contexts were identified: first, seredipitous altruism to provide help to other people, second, pursuit of the ends of seeking information by proxy, and third, duty‐driven needs characteristic of persons elected to positions of trust. Since in most cases information giving was driven by altruistic motives, the lack of reciprocity did not in practice weaken the motives for information giving. However, in the case of sensitive information, information giving tends to be restricted by calculations of the risk of information leakage against benefits obtained from the personally rewarding experience of providing important information to others.