Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

How the Intellectually Humble Seek and Use Information

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Diversity, Divergence, Dialogue (iConference 2021)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 12646))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

Addressing humanity’s grand challenges requires productive dialogue. One way to improve dialogue is by helping people build skills in dealing with information using an approach rooted in the intellectual virtues. There are a number of intellectual virtues, but a recent line of multidisciplinary research suggests beginning with intellectual humility (IH) as a cornerstone. At heart, IH is being open to the possibility that one might be mistaken. It has been defined as recognizing one’s intellectual limitations, having little concern with intellect-derived social status, and accurately valuing one’s beliefs according to the evidence. IH has obvious relevance to the information field, but to date there has been scant mention of IH in the information literature. This short paper reports on the first study connecting measures of IH to information seeking and use, a quantitative online survey with 201 participants. The results of this study suggest that individuals with higher IH are more likely to: be older; favor easily accessible information sources; search in multiple places for information; and find that discovering information ignites further interest in their search. Moreover, those with higher IH are less likely to look upon themselves negatively, or think others would, for using a given information source. These findings suggest avenues for further research on IH and information behavior, literacy and design.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Agarwal, N.K., Xu, Y., Poo, D.C.: A context-based investigation into source use by information seekers. J. Am. Soc. Inform. Sci. Technol. 62(6), 1087–1104 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Ahler, D.J., Roush, C.E., Sood, G.: The micro-task market for lemons: Data quality on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Manuscript under review (2020). https://www.gsood.com/research/papers/turk.pdf. Accessed 19 Sept 2020

  3. Al-Samarraie, H., Eldenfria, A., Dawoud, D.: The impact of personality traits on users’ information-seeking behavior. Inf. Process. Manage. 53, 237–247 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Alfano, M., et al.: Development and validation of a multi-dimensional measure of intellectual humility. PLoS ONE 12(8), e0182950 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Allen, J., Khader, M., Rosellini, A.: Investigating wisdom: call for research. Proc. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol. 56(1), 599–600 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Anderson, C.A., Allen, J.J., Plante, C., Quigley-McBride, A., Lovett, A., Rokkum, J.N.: The MTurkification of social and personality psychology. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 45(6), 842–850 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Association of College and Research Libraries, Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education (2016). https://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework. Accessed 19 Sept 2020

  8. Baehr, J.: Cultivating Good Minds: A Philosophical & Practical Guide to Educating for Intellectual Virtues. Intellectual Virtues Academy, Long Beach, CA (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Baer, A.: What intellectual empathy can offer information literacy education. In: Goldstein, S. (ed.) Informed Societies: Why Information Literacy Matters for Citizenship, Participation and Democracy, pp. 47–68. Facet, London (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Becker, B.W.: The librarian’s information war. Behav. Soc. Sci. Libr. 35(4), 188–191 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Church, I.M., Samuelson, P.L.: Intellectual Humility: An Introduction to the Philosophy and Science. Bloomsbury, New York (2017)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  12. Cooke, N.A., Magee, R.M.: Teaching and learning with metaliterate LIS professionals. In: Mackey, T.P., Jacobson, T.E. (eds.), Metaliterate Learning for the Post-Truth World, pp. 143–157. ALA Neal-Schuman (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Ericsson, K., Simon, H.: Protocol Analysis: Verbal Reports as Data, 2nd edn. The MIT Press, Boston (1993)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  14. Gorichanaz, T., Latham, K.F.: Contemplative aims for information. Inf. Res. 24(3), 836 (2019). https://informationr.net/ir/24-3/paper836.html

  15. Grossmann, I.: Wisdom in context. Perspect. Psychol. Sci. 12, 233–257 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Gunn, H.K.: Has Googling made us worse listeners? Contemp. Fr. Francoph. Stud. 23(4), 512–520 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Haggard, M., et al.: Finding middle ground between intellectual arrogance and intellectual servility: development and assessment of the limitations-owning intellectual humility scale. Personality Individ. Differ. 124, 184–193 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Halder, S., Roy, A., Chakraborty, P.K.: The influence of personality traits on information seeking behaviour of students. Malays. J. Libr. Inf. Sci. 15(1), 41–53 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Hara, K., Adams, A., Milland, K., Savage, S., Callison-Burch, C., Bigham, J.P.: A data-driven analysis of workers’ earnings on Amazon Mechanical Turk. In: Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2018). Association for Computing Machinery (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Heersmink, R.: A virtue epistemology of the internet: search engines, intellectual virtues and education. Soc. Epistemol. 32(1), 1–12 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Heinstrom, J.: Five personality dimensions and their influence on information behavior. Information Research, 9(1), paper 165 (2003). https://InformationR.net/ir/9-1/paper165.html, last accessed 2020/10/19.

  22. Hoyle, R.H., Davisson, E.K., Diebels, K.J., Leary, M.: Holding specific views with humility: conceptualization and measurement of specific intellectual humility. Personality Individ. Differ. 97, 165–172 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Huynh, A.C., Grossmann, I.: A pathway for wisdom-focused education. J. Moral Educ. 49(1), 9–29 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Kalmoe, N.P., Mason, L.: Lethal mass partisanship: prevalence, correlates, and electoral contingencies. Paper presented at the NCAPSA American Politics Meeting, College Park, MD (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Klein, E.: Why We’re Polarized. Avid Reader Press, New York (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Krumrei-Mancuso, E.J., Rouse, S.V.: The development and validation of the comprehensive intellectual humility scale. J. Pers. Assess. 98, 209–221 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Krumrei-Mancuso, E.J., Haggard, M.C., LaBouff, J.P., Rowatt, W.C.: Links between intellectual humility and acquiring knowledge. J. Posit. Psychol. 15(2), 155–170 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Kuhlthau, C.C.: A principle of uncertainty for information seeking. J. Documentation 49(4), 339–355 (1993)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Latham, K.F., Hartel, J., Gorichanaz, T.: Information and contemplation: a call for reflection and action. J. Documentation, Early View (2020). https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-05-2019-0076

  30. Leary, M.R., et al.: Cognitive and interpersonal features of intellectual humility. Person. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 43(1), 1–21 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  31. Lynch, M.: The Internet of Us: Knowing More and Understanding Less in the Age of Big Data. Norton, New York (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  32. Meagher, B.R., Leman, J.C., Heidenga, C.A., Ringquist, M.R., Rowatt, W.C.: Intellectual humility in conversation: distinct behavioral indicators of self and peer ratings. J. Posit. Psychol. Early View (2020). https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2020.1738536

  33. Miller, B., Record, I.: Justified belief in a digital age: on the epistemic implications of secret internet technologies. Episteme 10(2), 117–134 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Nardi, P.M.: Doing Survey Research: A Guide to Quantitative Methods, 4th edn. Routledge, New York (2018)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  35. Nielsen, J.: Thinking Aloud: The #1 Usability Tool. NNGroup (2012). https://www.nngroup.com/articles/thinking-aloud-the-1-usability-tool/. Accessed 19 Sept 2020

  36. Paunonen, S.V., Ashton, M.S.: Big Five factors and facets and the prediction of behavior. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 81(3), 524–539 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Pew Research Center, The partisan divide on political values grows even wider, 5 October 2017. https://www.people-press.org/2017/10/05/the-partisan-divide-on-political-values-grows-even-wider/. Accessed 19 Sept 2020

  38. Porter, T., Schumann, K., Selmeczy, D., Trzesniewski, K.: Intellectual humility predicts mastery behaviors when learning. Learn. Individ. Diff. 80, 101888 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2020.101888,lastaccessed2020/10/19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Porter, T., Schumann, K.: Intellectual humility and openness to the opposing view. Self Identity 17(2), 139–162 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Roberts, R.C., Wood, W.J.: Intellectual Virtues: An Essay in Regulative Epistemology. Oxford University Press, Oxford (2007)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  41. Simpson, D.: Evaluating Google as an epistemic tool. Metaphilosophy 43(4), 426–445 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Stanford History Education Group. Evaluation information: The cornerstone of civic online reasoning (2016). https://sheg.stanford.edu/upload/V3LessonPlans/Executive%20Summary%2011.21.16.pdf. Accessed 19 Sept 2020

  43. Tidwell, M., Sias, P.: Personality and information seeking: understanding how traits influence information-seeking behaviors. J. Bus. Commun. 42, 51–77 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Whitcomb, D., Battaly, H., Baehr, J., Howard-Snyder, D.: Intellectual humility: owning our limitations. Philos. Phenomenol. Res. 94(3), 509–539 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Zachry, C.E., Phan, L.V., Blackie, L., Jayawickreme, E.: Situation-based contingencies underlying wisdom-content manifestations: examining intellectual humility in daily life. J. Gerontol. Psychol. Sci. 23(8), 1404–1415 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Zagzebski, L.: Virtues of the Mind. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1996)

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Tim Gorichanaz

Authors
  1. Tim Gorichanaz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tim Gorichanaz .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Katharina Toeppe

  2. Renmin University of China, Beijing, China

    Hui Yan

  3. The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Samuel Kai Wah Chu

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Gorichanaz, T. (2021). How the Intellectually Humble Seek and Use Information. In: Toeppe, K., Yan, H., Chu, S.K.W. (eds) Diversity, Divergence, Dialogue. iConference 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12646. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71305-8_6

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71305-8_6

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-71304-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-71305-8

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics