Loading...
The murky distinction between curiosity and interest : State of the art and future prospects
Pekrun, Reinhard
Pekrun, Reinhard
Author
Abstract
Curiosity and interest are at the core of human inquiry. However, controversies remain about how best to conceptualize these constructs. I propose to derive definitions by attending to the common core of typical usages of the two terms. Using this approach, curiosity can be defined as a psychological state that includes three components: recognition of an information gap, anticipation that it may be possible to close it, and an intrinsically motivated desire to do so. Interest can be more broadly defined as intrinsically motivated engagement with any specific object, content, or activity. The two definitions imply that curiosity is a special case of interest. Furthermore, I propose to use the state-trait distinction to distinguish between momentary and enduring forms of both curiosity and interest, which makes it possible to treat state versus trait curiosity and interest in conceptually parallel ways. To make further progress in understanding the two constructs, research is needed that investigates their affective dynamics and their generalizability across age-related and socio-cultural contexts.
Keywords
curiosity, interest, jingle-jangle fallacy, information gap, control-value theory
Date
2019
Type
Journal article
Journal
Educational Psychology Review
Book
Volume
31
Issue
4
Page Range
905-914
Article Number
ACU Department
Institute for Positive Psychology and Education
Faculty of Education and Arts
Faculty of Education and Arts
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
License
CC BY 4.0
File Access
Open