Two Different Motivations on Agenda Setting: Need for Orientation and Motivated Reasoning

Abstract

This study seeks to understand how two different types of motivations that are closely related to information-seeking behaviors—the need for orientation (NFO) and motivated reasoning—influence the agenda-setting process. By recording participants’ information-seeking behaviors on a custom-designed Web site, this study shows how both NFO and motivated reasoning are related in different ways to individuals’ information-seeking behaviors, thereby leading to differences in attribute agenda-setting effects. Congruent with findings of previous research, this study demonstrates that NFO is associated with information-seeking behaviors. However, this study also suggests that increased information-seeking behaviors may not always result in higher attribute agenda setting if individuals’ motivations to seek particular kinds of information blind them to what the media emphasize.

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