Information management under stigma: When protective silence complements willful ignorance

Abstract

This article examines protective silence as a complementary strategy to willful ignorance, where individuals withhold information to protect themselves or their group from stigma. Drawing on evidence from intimate partner violence in LGBTQ+ and Black communities, we examine how social and structural pressures shape information management, preservation of bias and perpetuation of harm. By examining protective silence alongside willful ignorance, we aim to better understand how withholding information serves as a social defense, much like avoidance of information functions as an individual defense. We argue for an integrated theoretical framework that accounts for the relational and contextual roots of strategic ignorance, and outline implications for research, intervention, and policy