Effects of controllability, predictability, and information-seeking style on interest in predictive genetic testing

The combined contribution of personal style (monitoring) and situational fa ctors (control and certainty) on seeking predictive genetic testing was inv estigated. Participants were 209 individual who were randomly divided into four groups; each group offered one hypothetical genetic test characterized by different degrees of controllability and certainty. Participants' monit oring information-seeking style was measured by the Miller Behavioral Style s Scale (MBSS) and the Threatening Medical Situations Inventory (TMSI), whi ch is a measure specific for medical situations. The authors found that hig h monitors were generally more interested than low monitors in testing and that this general tendency was especially pronounced under conditions of hi gh certainty/low control. Tests that provide control were generally preferr ed to tests that do not by high and low monitors alike whereas tests that p rovide certainty were preferred to those that do not only by high monitors. These findings were interpreted as indicating similarities and differences in the needs that information about threats fulfills for high and low moni tors as well as identifying conditions that limit information-seeking by hi gh monitors.