Relational partners’ uncertainty management: testing the moderating effect of context in the theory of motivated information management

ABSTRACT

Distinct contexts present different communication challenges, which may influence the processes through which uncertainty motivates information management. To understand the potential moderating effects of context on uncertainty management processes, two studies tested the applicability of the theory of motivated information management (TMIM) across three topics – family health history, retirement preferences, and sexual satisfaction – and compared these topics on five dimensions: difficulty, openness, disagreement, face-threat, and proximity. Data from 274 married individuals in Study 1 suggest that the association between uncertainty discrepancy and negative emotions did not differ across contexts; however, context moderated most other TMIM paths, including emotions-outcome expectancy, outcome expectancy-efficacy, and efficacy-information seeking. Findings from Study 2 clarified how these topics differ. Theoretical and practical implications regarding the applicability of TMIM in different contexts are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Theory of motivated information management
• uncertainty
• communication theory
• information management processes
• close relationships

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Individuals at different stages of romantic relationships (e.g., dating, engaged, married) may experience and respond to uncertainty in different ways. To minimize the influence of relationship stage on proposed hypothesis testing, married individuals were selected as the population of interest.

2. It is worth noting that 87% of participants were under 50 years old (65 is considered a “traditional” retirement age in the U.S.) and 89% of the participants expected 10 years or more before their retirements.

3. Participants did not complete the retirement preferences topic if they indicated they already were retired.

4. Other types of information management strategies including indirect information seeking, avoidance, and cognitive reappraisal were also measured. This paper focused on analyses related to direct information seeking.

5. When potential covariates demonstrated significant relationships with other covariates (over r =.20), only one of the variables was included.

6. Issue importance was measured on 1–7 scale for FHH and retirement and on 1–5 scale for sexual satisfaction. Standardized scores were used for all analyses.

7. See Afifi and Weiner (2004), and Afifi and Morse (2009) for the baseline model.

8. The associations between negative emotions and outcome in the retirement preferences and sexual satisfaction contexts differed significantly at p< .10 level (b = −.324, SE = .184, p = .073, CI₉₅ = −.678, .030).

9. Additional demographic information is comparable to the first sample and is available from the corresponding author.

10. In this study, follow-up analyses did suggest that both higher- and lower-than-desired uncertainty led to higher levels of anxiety across three contexts, yet the “no discrepancy” group experienced significantly lower levels of anxiety, confirming TMIM’s proposition that it is the perception of UD (not uncertainty itself) that leads to emotional responses (e.g., anxiety) and the need to manage uncertainty.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kai Kuang

Kai Kuang (Ph.D., Purdue) is an Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. Her research examines uncertainty in illness and the processes through which uncertainty influences information management behaviors.

Patricia E. Gettings

Patricia E. Gettings (Ph.D., Purdue) is an Assistant Professor of Communication at University of Albany. Her research explores how individuals communicatively negotiate intersections of their personal and professional lives.