How do emotion/mood and context impact finding and seeking behaviors?
Most early findings shown in library contexts have presented a significant connection between emotions and information-seeking behavior. Information-seeking behavior refers to the act of vigorously looking for information in order to respond to a detailed question. Information user behavior concerns the searcher getting the information they sought. It is the behavior that starts from the seeker interrelating with the system in question. A 1997 research study that was conducted by, Julie Morrison, Peter Pirolli, and Stuart Card at Xerox PARC was the start of information-seeking behavior. The study stated 4 different ways in which information was assembled which were divided into two categories (Liu, 2020):
1. Active — find and collect
2. Passive — explore and monitor
The main types of information-seeking behaviors are, Compare/Choose, Understand, Acquire, but there are various modes, tasks, and characteristics as well.
Emotion has a significant impact on the cognitive processes in humans, including, but not limited to awareness, attention, learning, memory, reasoning, and problem-solving. Emotion has a predominantly strong impact on attention, specifically modifying the discernment of attention as well as motivating action and behavior. Numerous variables affect the information-seeking behavior of a user. Some of which contain contextual variables, resource variables, and individual variables. Emotions create a part of the distinct variables that play a key role in the purpose of the information-seeking behavior of a person.
On the same line of examination, some researchers have studied emotional intelligence and its influence on information-seeking behavior. Emotional intelligence involves the skill of a user to display their emotions and feelings while judging them and using the info to help the user’s actions. Emotional intelligence includes the awareness of emotions, use of the feelings to encourage thinking, understanding, and managing emotions.
Emotions affect behavior approaches used in search, search performance, search process, as well as significance in the search process and information acquired. Successful or unsuccessful completion of the search affects the emotional experiences, which, in turn, establish whether the user can continue or terminate the search (Lopatovska, 2009). Concern and hesitation characterize the early phases of the process of searching for information. The affective signals of hesitation, hindrance, and confusion lead to unclear and vague thoughts concerning a problem or topic.
Although the ways we seek information have changed drastically over the years, user behavior still did not change. Multiple studies have determined that the internet has had a huge impact on the way we seek, retrieve, and use information. Emotion/mood also impacts our information-seeking behaviors just as much as the internet. The internet has become a main, significant source of information — the mass of the activities that individuals perform on the internet is associated with assembly knowledge and comprehending a topic. Research has shown that there are various types of information-seeking behaviors, tasks, modes, and characteristics.
Works Cited
Hussain, A. (2018, April 20). Retrieved from ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Akhtar-Hussain-13
Liu, F. (2020, January 26). How Information-Seeking Behavior Has Changed in 22 Years. Retrieved from nngroup: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/information-seeking-behavior-changes/
Lopatovska, I. (2009, January 3). EMOTIONAL ASPECTS OF THE ONLINE INFORMATION RETRIEVAL PROCESS. Retrieved from Rucore: https://rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu/rutgers-lib/26354/PDF/1/play/
Orlu, A. D. (2017, March 27). Perceived Emotions in the Information Seeking Behaviour of Manchester Metropolitan University Students. Library Philosophy and Practice, 39.