Coping with uncertainty in college: a TMIM-based study on incoming first-year university students

Guided by the Theory of Motivated Information Management (TMIM), this study examines how Chinese incoming first-year university students (N = 417) manage pre-enrollment uncertainty through information seeking. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results show that uncertainty discrepancy positively predicts anxiety. Anxiety was positively associated with outcome expectancy but negatively associated with efficacy expectancy. Both cognitive appraisals significantly predict information-seeking behavior. Furthermore, information overload serves as a moderator that strengthens the relationship between anxiety and outcome expectancy. Finally, consumption-oriented new media literacy exerts differentiated moderating effects: it enhances the impact of efficacy expectancy on information seeking while reducing the influence of outcome expectancy. By integrating information overload and consumption-oriented new media literacy into the TMIM framework, this study reveals how incoming first-year university students manage uncertainty in complex information environments.