ABSTRACT
Every day individuals face an enormous array of information about potential risks, threats and dangers to their well being, from hijackers on airplanes and muggers on street corners and layoffs at work to the news the physician gives after reading the test results, or the melanoma signs they might find the next time they look at themselves. When people hear about the symptoms and risks of breast cancer and the frequent fate of the aging prostate gland, do they react in stable ways, some wanting to know more, others quickly running from the news and trying to forget it? If they do, it becomes important to identify the patterns that might characterize individuals' differences in these reactions and to try to understand their psychological implications and consequences (Miller, 1990, 1992a, 1992b, 1995; Miller, Combs, & Kruus, 1993; Miller, Shoda, & Hurley, in press).
