Theory of Motivated Information Management

Theory of Motivated Information Management or TMIM, is a social-psychological framework that examines the relationship between information management and uncertainty. The theory posits that individuals are “motivated to manage their uncertainty levels when they perceive a discrepancy between the level of uncertainty they have about an important issue and the level of uncertainty they want”. In other words, someone may be uncertain about an important issue but decides not to engage or seek information because they are comfortable with that state. Theory of Motivated Information Management or TMIM, is a social-psychological framework that examines the relationship between information management and uncertainty. The theory posits that individuals are “motivated to manage their uncertainty levels when they perceive a discrepancy between the level of uncertainty they have about an important issue and the level of uncertainty they want”. In other words, someone may be uncertain about an important issue but decides not to engage or seek information because they are comfortable with that state. This psychological theory, like many others, is applied in communication, specifically in the subfields of interpersonal and human communication. Theory of Motivated Information Management TMIM was first proposed in 2004 by Walid Afifi and Judith Weiner through their article, “Toward a Theory of Motivated Information Management”. A revision to the theory was put forth by Walid Afifi and Christopher Morse in 2009. TMIM was developed to account for a person’s ‘active’ information management efforts in interpersonal communication channels. The framework shares close ties to Brashers' uncertainty management theory, Babrow's problematic integration theory, Johnson & Meischkes' comprehensive model of information seeking (CMIS) and Bandura's social cognitive theory. The revision also relies on Lazarus' appraisal theory of emotions. TMIM stemmed out of a desire to bring together ideas and address limitations of existing frameworks on uncertainty. More specifically, it emphasizes the role played by efficacy beliefs, explicitly highlights the role played by the information provider in uncertainty management interactions, and improves communication research about uncertainty management decisions. Definition TMIM is a description of a three-phase process that individuals go through in deciding whether to seek or avoid information about an issue and a similar two-stage process that information providers go through in deciding what, if any, information to provide.