Summary

Although humans are often portrayed as homo informavores, the circumstances under which they refrain from acquiring or consulting information are varying and widespread. Contrary to what rational economic theory would suggest, individuals and groups often deliberately choose not to know or pretend not to know, when making (important) decisions in practice (Hertwig & Engel, 2021; Vu et al., 2023). It can be a strategic affair for people to remain ignorant about potentially negative externalities of their actions, while prioritising personal or organisational gains. This imperfect knowledge on how one's actions affect other parties influence decisions in economic and social domains (Van der Weele, 2014) and questions the ethical nature of the practice.

Willful ignorance is a problem in both economic and non-economic settings and at all hierarchical levels in organisations. This PhD research particularly focusses on decision-making contexts where it seems reasonable to assume that willful ignorance would pose most significant concerns regarding its unethical nature. Namely, on influential positions with a high level of decision-making mandate such as the C-suite level of organisations, where strategy-setting is defined, and consequences of decisions have a potentially big impact on the organisation and the broader society. The research aims to contribute to our understanding of the antecedents and consequences of willful ignorance with a particular interest in top management corporate decision-making.