ABSTRACT
The theory of motivated information management (TMIM) was introduced by Afifi and Weiner in 2004. Building upon previous research addressing uncertainty and its management, the TMIM is a post-positivist theory exploring individuals’ information management decisions about important issues within the context of interpersonal encounters. The TMIM envisions a three-phased process: the interpretation phase, the evaluation phase, and the decision phase. Together, these phases offer a predictive framework to explain how individuals’ outcome expectancies and efficacy determine their eventual information-seeking strategies. In Chapter 8, authors Walid A. Afifi and Stephanie Tikkanen begin by delving into the intellectual tradition of the TMIM, explaining its key terminology and functions, and the role of communication within the theory. They then review some of the ways the TMIM has been applied in research, evaluate its utility as a theory, and finally offer some suggestions for future development.
