People deliberately avoid information that threatens their happiness and wellbeing. Researchers show that, while a simple failure to obtain information is the most clear-cut case of 'information avoidance,' people have a wide range of other information-avoidance strategies at their disposal. They are also remarkably adept at selectively directing their attention to information that affirms what they believe or that reflects favorably upon them, and at forgetting information they wish were not true.

Source: Information avoidance: From health to politics, people select their own reality