Self-blinding and the benefits of willful ignorance

While willful ignorance-deliberately choosing to avoid information-is often maladaptive, there are some instances in which willful ignorance is beneficial. Here, we review research on self-blinding-where evaluators consciously avoid learning irrelevant or potentially biasing information about evaluation targets-as a positive instance of willful ignorance. We highlight affective and cognitive forces that influence preferences for self-blinding, including visceral feelings of curiosity and incorrect beliefs about the value of potentially biasing information. We review how the different factors influencing self-blinding preferences suggest different interventions to nudge self-blinding in practice. Finally, we discuss how research on self-blinding can help advance the literature on willful ignorance in general and the growing area of research highlighting the benefits of ignorance in particular.