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Whether highly curious students thrive academically depends on perceptions about the school learning environment: A study of Hong Kong adolescents
Abstract
The present study tested whether the perceived academic values of a school moderate whether highly curious students thrive
academically. We investigated the interactive effects of curiosity and school quality on academic success for 484 Hong Kong
high school students. Chinese versions of the Curiosity and Exploration Inventory, Subjective Happiness Scale, and Rosenberg
Self-Esteem scales were administered and shown to have acceptable measurement properties. We obtained Hong Kong Certificate
of Education Examination (HKCEE) scores (national achievement tests) from participating schools. Results yielded Trait Curiosity×Perceived
School Quality interactions in predicting HKCEE scores and school grades. Adolescents with greater trait curiosity in more
challenging schools had the greatest academic success; adolescents with greater trait curiosity in less challenging schools
had the least academic success. Findings were not attributable to subjective happiness or self-esteem and alternative models
involving these positive attributes were not supported. Results suggest that the benefits of curiosity are activated by student
beliefs that the school environment supports their values about growth and learning; these benefits can be disabled by perceived
person-environment mismatches.
... Thus, there exists a gap in the literature between the proposed importance of curiosity for learning in childhood (Renninger & Hidi, 2019;Engel, 2011;Gottlieb et al., 2013;Jirout et al., 2018) and empirical evidence directly assessing curiosity states and their benefit for learning and memory in children. While previous research has indicated that curiosity as an individual trait facilitates learning in educational contexts (Kashdan & Yuen, 2007;Shah et al., 2018;von Stumm et al., 2011), it is currently unknown how states of curiosity affect learning and memory in children and adolescents. As states of curiosity are potentially more malleable than trait curiosity, a better understanding of the effects of curiosity in development can help facilitate educational practices related to fostering children's and adolescents' learning. ...
... These results complement previous findings that trait curiosity affects cognition (for reviews, see Grossnickle, 2016;Renninger & Hidi, 2019). Specifically, studies have consistently demonstrated that higher trait curiosity is positively associated with academic achievement in children (Kashdan & Yuen, 2007;Shah et al., 2018;von Stumm et al., 2011). At the same time, the present results elucidate a different aspect of curiosity, namely states of curiosity. ...
... At the same time, the present results elucidate a different aspect of curiosity, namely states of curiosity. While state and trait curiosity are thought to be closely related (Baranes et al., 2015;Grossnickle, 2016;Risko et al., 2012), characterizing the development of state curiosity entails clear benefits in that it can help tailor strategies and interventions to optimally stimulate states of curiosity across childhood and adolescence (Hassinger-Das & Hirsh-Pasek, 2018;Jirout et al., 2018;Kashdan & Yuen, 2007;Shah et al., 2018). Interestingly, these studies have also revealed that the relation between trait curiosity and academic achievement depends on additional factors such as children's perception of the school situation (Kashdan & Yuen, 2007) or socio-economic status (Shah et al., 2018). ...
Curiosity ‐ broadly defined as the desire to acquire new information ‐ enhances learning and memory in adults. In addition, interest in the information (i.e., when the information is processed) can also facilitate later memory. To date, it is not known how states of pre‐information curiosity and post‐information interest enhance memory in childhood and adolescence. We used a trivia paradigm in which children and adolescents (N = 60, 10–14 years) encoded trivia questions and answers associated with high or low curiosity. States of high pre‐answer curiosity enhanced later memory for trivia answers in both children and adolescents. However, higher positive post‐answer interest enhanced memory for trivia answers beyond the effects of curiosity more strongly in adolescents than in children. These results suggest that curiosity and interest have positive effects on learning and memory in childhood and adolescence, but might need to be harnessed in differential ways across child development to optimize learning.
... Regarding the personal resource of curiosity, the scientific literature relates this feature of the individual with environmental factors (e.g., perception of support, presence of challenges).Environments that do not provide support or that do not challenge curious individuals can impair their motivation and performance. A study of adolescent students verified that the link between curiosity and academic performance was influenced by the perception of the school environment (Kashdan & Yuen, 2007). ...
... Characteristics of curious individuals, such as the motivation to seek information, the desire to reduce uncertainty, and interest in controlling the environment, can promote the perception of environmental resources (job/academic) that enable one to achieve positive results (engagement). Curious people are more sensitive to environments that favor novelty, intellectual challenge, and potential growth (Kashdan & Yuen, 2007). ...
... The perception of academic support by curious individuals may be related to characteristics of curiosity (search for information, reduction of uncertainty, and interest in controlling the environment), which encourage a more attentive exploration of environmental resources that help to achieve one's goals. Curious individuals are more attentive, they process information at a deeper level and retain it better, and they persist in tasks to achieve their goals (Kashdan & Yuen, 2007). These effects have general and daily consequences. ...
Based on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, this diary study investigated the mediator role of academic resources in the relationship between personal resources and variables of well-being. The study postulates that the perceived level of academic support received by students during the day mediates the relationship between the levels of self-efficacy and curiosity, measured early in the day, and the level of academic engagement measured at the end of the day. Ninety-four undergraduates filled in a general questionnaire and subsequently completed a daily questionnaire, for 5 consecutive academic days (470 diary entries). The multilevel analysis showed a positive relationship between self-efficacy and curiosity and academic engagement. In addition, the results revealed a positive relationship between academic support and academic engagement. Finally, the results showed partial mediation of academic support in the relationship between self-efficacy and academic engagement and in the relationship between curiosity and academic engagement. The results can be used to improve teaching and learning programs in colleges and universities.
... Both constructs have been theorized to be elicited by novelty, enjoyment, uncertainty and incongruity in stimuli (Berlyne, 1960;Boykin & Harackiewicz, 1981;Rotgans & Schmidt, 2014). Both are also thought to produce self-directed exploration (Jirout & Klahr, 2012;Rotgans & Schmidt, 2011), deeper engagement (Kang et al., 2009;Linnenbrink-Garcia et al., 2013), positive attitudes (Flowerday et al., 2004;Ruan et al., 2018) and stronger performance (Kashdan & Yuen, 2007;Rotgans & Schmidt, 2011; for a review, see . These similarities have led some researchers to consider the two constructs synonymous (Ainley, 2019;Schmidt & Rotgans, 2020;Silvia, 2017). ...
... The state of curiosity is also found to accompany heightened memory for the sought-after information (Kang et al., 2009) and recruitment of the hippocampal activity, the brain region associated with memory consolidation (Gruber et al., 2014). Given the impact of curiosity on the active exploration of information and memory, it is no surprise that curiosity leads to superior achievement (Kashdan & Yuen, 2007;Marvin & Shohamy, 2016). A meta-analysis by Von Stumm et al. (2011) concluded that the tendency to feel curious is an influential predictor of academic achievement. ...
Background:
A controversy over the distinction between curiosity and situational interest has recently resurfaced. Nonetheless, empirical research comparing the two is noticeably lacking.
Aims:
We attempted to fill this gap and provide much-needed evidence of the distinction between curiosity and situational interest by examining the antecedents and consequences of the two constructs.
Methods:
We assessed enjoyment, novelty, uncertainty and surprise as potential antecedents and information seeking, individual interest, career intention and achievement as potential outcomes of curiosity and situational interest among 219 Korean sixth graders in the domain of science.
Results:
Of the hypothesized antecedents, enjoyment during science class related most strongly to students' situational interest in science, whereas novelty in science class related most strongly to students' science curiosity. Uncertainty and surprise in science class related to only science curiosity and not situational interest in science. Among the outcomes considered, situational interest in science related to only students' individual interest in science. In comparison, science curiosity related significantly to all science outcomes measured in this study. Science curiosity also significantly mediated the relationships between the antecedents and outcomes in science.
Conclusions:
Together, these results support the distinction between curiosity and situational interest and suggest different ways to promote each motivation construct depending on desired outcomes in the science classroom.
... Cognitive ability and curiosity are two important antecedents of academic achievement (Anastasi 1982;Kashdan and Yuen 2007;Kuncel et al. 2004;Poropat 2009;Richardson et al. 2012;von Stumm et al. 2011). In terms of competences, they refer to latent characteristics (resources) underlying behavior responsible for knowledge acquisition and performance (Blömeke et al. 2015). ...
... According to the theoretical intellect model (Mussel 2013a), these refer to individual differences in the propensity to think, learn, and create and influence seeking out and conquering intellectually challenging situations. Investment traits have been found to be related to fluid intelligence (Ackerman and Heggestad 1997;Fleischhauer et al. 2010;von Stumm and Ackerman 2013) and academic performance (Kashdan and Yuen 2007;Richardson et al. 2012;von Stumm et al. 2011). ...
Cognitive ability and curiosity are significant predictors of academic achievement; yet the processes underlying these relations are not well understood. I drew on ideas from the environmental enrichment hypothesis and the differential preservation hypothesis and hypothesized that epistemic behavior acts as a mediator. Longitudinal data were collected from 1964 individuals in three waves, spanning five years: cognitive ability and curiosity were assessed at time 1; epistemic behavior at time 2; at time 3, grade point average and highest degree of both secondary and tertiary academic education (if applicable) were obtained retrospectively via self-report. I found expected bivariate relations between all study variables, including a significant relation between cognitive ability and curiosity and significant relations of both of these variables with secondary academic performance. Epistemic behavior was related to curiosity and academic performance but, at odds with the hypothesis, did not mediate the relation between cognitive and personality variables and academic performance. It is concluded that the process underlying the behavioral consequences of cognitive ability and curiosity is not environmental enrichment.
... It is further supported by assumptions of the person-environment fit approach (for more details see 1.1.1 Need for Cognition in Education) and especially by previous research applying the person-environment fit approach to constructs related to NFC. Kashdan and Yuen (2007) investigated interaction effects between students' curiosity and perceived school quality on academic success with high school students in Hong Kong. They found some support for a person-environment fit approach to curiosity with curious students performing better in educational settings characterized by intellectual challenge and support for their own values and preferences in learning. ...
... This assumption is well aligned with findings from studies applying the person-environment fit approach to constructs related to NFC (e.g., curiosity and creativity). Curious students performed better in educational settings that are characterized by intellectual challenge and that support their own values and preferences in learning (Kashdan & Yuen, 2007). Further, the predictive power of creativity in academic achievement is considerably higher in classrooms where teachers award creativity more strongly (Freund & Holling, 2008). ...
The present study investigates how Need for Cognition (NFC), an individual's tendency to engage in and enjoy thinking, relates to academic achievement in 9th grade students (N = 3.355) attending different school tracks to understand whether school track moderates this relation when controlling for student background variables. Using structural regression analyses, our findings revealed small and significant positive relations between NFC and academic achievement in German, French and Math. Relations were strongest in the highest and weakest in the lowest track. No significant track difference between the highest and the intermediary track could be identified; significant differences of small effect size between the intermediary and the lowest track were found in favor of the intermediary track in the relation between NFC and academic achievement in German and Math. These findings underpin the importance of NFC in academic settings, while highlighting that the relation between NFC and achievement varies with the characteristics of different learning environments.
... In educational research, the most widely used scales focus on epistemic curiosity, generally investigating how epistemic curiosity relates to educational achievement. For example, Kashdan and Yuen (2007) employed the Epistemic Curiosity Inventory (ECI: Kashdan et al. 2004) incorporating exploration and absorption curiosity factors, to investigate how trait curiosity relates to students' perceptions of learning opportunities and intellectual challenge in their school environment, and to their achievement. Students with high trait curiosity who perceived their school to be intellectually challenging were the most successful academically. ...
... A second issue concerns the operation of in-the-moment curiosity states contingent on trait curiosity dimensions. Kashdan and Yuen (2007) investigated whether epistemic curiosity interacting with students' perception of challenge in their school environment was related to achievement. However, evidence to confirm an interactive relation between curiosity and students' perception of their school environment also requires assessment of functional inthe-moment states, that is, recording of students' immediate reaction when encountering the challenging problem. ...
This article explores the relation between curiosity and interest by examining how in-the-moment experiences of curiosity and of interest emerge out of exploratory behavior observed in infancy and early childhood. As experiential states, there is little to distinguish curiosity and interest. Descriptions of developing interests that refer to “curiosity questions” and “curiosity episodes,” suggest that experiential states of curiosity and interest are intertwined in interest development. However, when the focus is on individual differences, curiosity and interest diverge. Trait curiosity is a relatively stable personality trait, the propensity to feel curious in contexts high in collative variability. On the other hand, interests or individual interest refer to a disposition or predisposition to engage and re-engage with contents of a specific domain. It is suggested that further insight into the significance of curiosity and interest for educational practice will come from expanding real-time analyses of the quality of the experiential states they subsume.
... Curiosity has a variety of links with different ideas on many different levels, especially in light of its relationship to language learning and, consequently, mastering new language skills (Tulgar, 2018). While Kashdan and Yuen (2007) highlight the connection between curiosity and success in language learning in general, White (1995) links curiosity to competence in particular. Arnone et al. (2011) discuss the relationship between curiosity and exploratory behavior in relation to the pursuit of learning a new language. ...
Exploration and knowledge-seeking are fundamentally driven by the natural urge of curiosity. individuals with high levels of interest will be driven to question areas of their learning that are still unclear, look for new information and knowledge, provide particular answers, and pay great attention in class, whereas individuals with low levels of curiosity would behave differently. As a result, the present study is conducted to investigate the correlation of EFL learners' language learning curiosity with their performance in receptive skills. Thus, the current study aims at finding out: 1. Iraqi EFL students' level of language learning curiosity and performance in receptive skills. 2. the correlations between Iraqi EFL students' language learning curiosity and performance in receptive skills. 3. the extent to which language learning curiosity and ambiguity tolerance contribute to EFL students' performance in receptive skills A random sample of 375 students from Baghdad University, Tikrit University, and Wasit University's English language departments for the 2022/2023 academic year is selected. In the current study two instruments are employed which are language learning curiosity questionnaire and a receptive skills test. The results show that students have an accepted level of language learning curiosity and a low level of performance in receptive skills with positive
... However, the influence of curiosity on the success of researchers has received little attention as a subject of empirical research. Curiosity has generally been studied most extensively in relation to cognitive traits (Brooks et al., 2021;Fang et al., 2016;Gottlieb et al., 2016;Gruber et al., 2014;Kidd & Hayden, 2015;Trudewind, 2000;Vogl et al., 2020); academic achievement (Kashdan & Yuen, 2007;von Stumm et al., 2011); labor productivity (Pratt et al., 2016;Reio & Wiswell, 2000); personal and professional development (Kashdan et al., 2004;Mussel et al., 2012), and so forth. Moreover, as far as we know, there is less scientific literature on the profiles that differentiate researchers in the manifestation of curiosity. ...
Aim/Purpose: The research is aimed at understanding the role of curiosity in obtaining a PhD degree. The differences in the expression of curiosity between PhD and unsuccessful doctoral candidates are studied. Background: Differences in the expression of curiosity predict differences in behavior and achievement of results. The role of curiosity in research activities and progress has been recognized in the literature review. However, the influence of curiosity on the success of researchers has received little attention as a subject of empirical research. Methodology: Quantitative methods were used to examine differences in curiosity among PhD candidates and unsuccessful doctoral candidates. The study involved PhD (n=181) and unsuccessful doctoral candidates (n=194) aged 29 to 49 years. A questionnaire of socio-demographic characteristics, the tests “Curiosity” and the “Test for assessing research potential” were used to collect data. Independent groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test, and relationships between variables were studied using the partial correlation matrix and Network Plots, to determine statistically significant differences between the strength of the relationship between two pairs of variables. Partial correlations were compared. Contribution: The study initiates a new line of questioning and contributes to the study of factors influencing the successful completion of doctoral studies. The focus of the study is on a group of respondents who have previously received insufficient attention. Findings: The comparison analysis of partial correlations lets us establish the differences in all components of curiosity (target, motivational, cognitive, productive, dynamic, emotional, regulatory, reflective-evaluative) and research potential. The differences relate to the desire for research, the importance of scientific knowledge, priorities, ways of expressing curiosity, emotional experiences, comparison of intentions, and achieved results. The profiles of curiosity in research activities are described based on the identified differences. Recommendations for Practitioners: From a practical point of view, the research results can help organize and plan the research activities of doctoral students. Recommendation for Researchers: The authors recommend researchers study in more detail the nature of the connections between the components of curiosity and their impact on research success. Future research could focus on a detailed analysis of curiosity profiles, including in the context of various personality traits. It is also recommended that a longitudinal or experimental study be conducted that involves diagnosing curiosity in doctoral students at different stages of training and with different research productivity. Impact on Society: Doctoral studies are considered as an important strategic resource of the modern economy. The development of curiosity can help increase the research productivity of doctoral students and competitiveness in the globalizing scientific world. Future Research: Following research on curiosity as it relates to research activities could contribute to the development of a conceptual framework.
... The promotion of intellectual curiosity is theorized to have bene cial effects on learners and the learning process (Cutrer et Curiosity has been positively associated with cognitive development, motivation (Reio et al., 2006), imagination, and creativity (Fitzgerald, 1999). When learners are curious, they are more attentive, retain information better, process information more deeply, and are more apt to persist in achieving learning goals (Kashdan & Yuen, 2007). ...
Curiosity has been theorized to be a primary driver of the master adaptive learner as it motivates students to identify knowledge gaps, engage in exploratory behavior, and participate in self-determined learning. Enabled with these necessary skills, health care students may succeed within a contemporary health care environment. There is currently a paucity of information regarding curiosity in health care education, particularly practical applications of cultivating curiosity in the classroom. The purpose of this research was to explore teaching and learning strategies health care educators use to foster intellectual curiosity and “learning to learn.” An exploratory, qualitative case study approach was used. In-depth semistructured interviews were conducted with 18 multidisciplinary professional health care faculty to explore the questions of how and why teachers foster curiosity in the classroom. The data analysis was framed by Russell’s conceptual model of intellectual curiosity (2013) and Ryan and Deci’s self-determination theory (2000). The primary findings were that faculty appreciate their positive and negative effects on student curiosity and believe that diverse learners require diverse strategies to foster curiosity optimally. The most often cited general strategies were using mindfulness and reflection, establishing relevancy, creating a safe learning environment, and serving as a role model. Fifty specific strategies to cultivate curiosity are offered. Finally, faculty believe curiosity is crucial to providing optimal person-centered care. Providing optimal care serves as both a strategy and justification for improving curiosity. By capitalizing on curiosity, future health care providers will be better prepared to address future challenges through continual innovation.
... Curiosity is a central human motivation that is related to human success and achievement. It is not only one of three key predictors of academic achievement, but is also related to job performance, creative problem solving, and personal well-being [30]- [37]. According to psychological research, curiosity in people cannot simply be described on a single dimension from incurious to very curious; humans have different ways of experiencing and expressing curiosity that affect how they represent information in their minds and their motivations to seek new information and experiences, discover, learn, and grow [38], [39]. ...
... Students recall even incidental information associated with questions (i.e., pictures of faces before receiving answers) when their curiosity is provoked, which highlights the power of curiosity in promoting learning (Gruber et al., 2014). Given its impact on learning and motivation, it is no surprise that curiosity leads to greater achievement (Kashdan & Yuen, 2007;Marvin & Shohamy, 2016). ...
Curiosity—intrinsic motivation to understand—is an integral part of learning. However, empirical evidence on how and when students’ curiosity is piqued is noticeably lacking, especially for boring learning materials. Grounded on the information gap theory, this study examined whether sequentially providing hints on the answer increased students’ curiosity for interesting and boring trivia questions. Two experimental studies were conducted with 212 undergraduates. The number of hints was manipulated in the between- (Study 1; hint vs. no-hint) and within-individual (Study 2; 0 ~ 4 hints per question) levels. The results of both experiments showed that hints only incited curiosity when the content was boring. Providing hints also improved students’ feeling-of-knowing the answer, performance (accuracy of guess), post-task interest, and willingness to reengage in the task. Encountering prediction errors (i.e., low-confidence correct guess or high-confidence error) triggered students’ curiosity about the explanation. These findings contribute to the growing body of curiosity literature and help educators make mundane learning content curious.
... For example, Ye et al. (2016) found that trait curiosity in a sample of Hong Kong university students was not associated with their learning in General Education courses in which curiosity is highly valued. In another study, Kashdan and Yuen (2007) found that Hong Kong high school students with greater trait curiosity tend to achieve greater academic success when they perceive the school environment as challenging and supportive of their learning and growth than when they perceive the school environment as less challenging and supportive. Hence, the role of curiosity in learning is not a given but is influenced by cultural and situational factors. ...
... Curiosity is described as the motivational drive to seek out information in new, uncertain, or complex situations (Loewenstein, 1994;Litman, 2005;Jirout and Klahr, 2012), and in young children, it is often expressed by exploratory behavior (Berlyne, 1954), novelty seeking (Berlyne, 1960), and the joy of learning. Higher curiosity has been associated with adaptive outcomes throughout the lifespan, including better academic and interpersonal outcomes in middle childhood (Maw and Maw, 1975;Lepper et al., 2005), adolescence (Kashdan and Yuen, 2007;Jovanovic and Brdaric, 2012;Froiland et al., 2015), and adulthood Kashdan et al., 2013a). Given the beneficial outcomes associated with curiosity across the life-course, we were interested in examining the environmental contexts associated with higher curiosity in early childhood. ...
Introduction
Curiosity is an important social-emotional process underlying early learning. Our previous work found a positive association between higher curiosity and higher academic achievement at kindergarten, with a greater magnitude of benefit for children with socioeconomic disadvantage. Because characteristics of the early caregiving and physical environment impact the processes that underlie early learning, we sought to examine early environmental experiences associated with early childhood curiosity, in hopes of identifying modifiable contexts that may promote its expression.
Methods
Using data from a nationally representative sample of 4,750 children from the United States, this study examined the association of multi-level ecological contexts (i.e., neighborhood safety, parenting quality, home environment, and center-based preschool enrollment) on early childhood curiosity at kindergarten, and tested for moderation by socioeconomic status.
Results
In adjusted, stratified models, children from lower-resourced environments (characterized by the lowest-SES tertile) manifested higher curiosity if they experienced more positive parenting, higher quality home environments, and if they lived in “very safe” neighborhoods.
Discussion
We discuss the ecological contexts (i.e., parenting, home, and neighborhood environments) that are promotive of early childhood curiosity, with an emphasis on the role of the neighborhood safety and the “neighborhood built environment” as important modifiable contexts to foster early childhood curiosity in lower-resourced families.
... In societies with a collectivist culture, primary values are being good citizens and living according to social norms. While the subject of curiosity, which is an important predictor of social norms, is frequently researched in Western countries with individualist cultures, there are comparatively few studies on the subject in non-Western societies and countries with a communal culture (Kashdan, 2004;Kashdan & Yuen, 2007;Acun et al., 2013;Kaczmarek et al., 2014). ...
... These overlapping notions of novelty and knowledge provide hints as to how curiosity, creativity, and aesthetics relate to each other. Clarifying these links is important given that curiosity, creativity, and aesthetics improve learning, education, productivity, and wellbeing cross individuals and society (Arnone, Grabowski, & Rynd, 1994;Gruber, Gelman, & Ranganath, 2014;Kashdan & Yuen, 2007;Sakaki, Yagi, & Murayama, 2018). Here, we selectively review the literature regarding these constructs by focusing on curiosity as a driver of information-seeking behaviors. ...
Curiosity, creativity, and aesthetics are typically studied separately. The extent to which they share psychological and neural mechanisms is not well understood, despite all being linked to broader personality characteristics like Openness to Experience and are driven by a desire for information and knowledge. Here, we review evidence and advance the hypothesis that creative and aesthetic experiences depend on curiosity as a driver of information-seeking and exploratory behavior because they are exemplars of situations that highlight gaps in knowledge or require problem finding and solving. At the psychological level, we link curiosity, creativity, and aesthetics to Openness to Experience and to ones’ semantic memory. We demonstrate how Openness is a critical personality trait in enhancing curious behaviors, as well as creative and aesthetic acts. Furthermore, we highlight the role of semantic memory in such information-seeking behavior, leading to knowledge acquisition. At the neural level, we examine the neurobiological underpinnings of these constructs in relation to the mesolimbic dopaminergic reward system, as related to information-seeking. Finally, we link creativity and aesthetic experience and discuss how stages of art viewing and making relate to curiosity. Thus, we argue that information-seeking, the key behavior attributed to curiosity, motivates both creative and aesthetic activities.
... Similarly, curiosity related to kindergarten children's academic performance even after controlling for effortful control, and the association was strongest for low-income children (Shah et al., 2018). In addition to children's curiosity, the educational context is also important to consider, as negative perceptions of school can lead to lower academic performance for higher curious students (Kashdan & Yuen, 2007). Importantly, it is very likely that the educational context can influence children's curiosity more directly and their learning indirectly, though research is needed to test this empirically . ...
Uncertainty can play an important role in learning in educational settings. The realization that one does not know something can be perceived as an opportunity for learning, and the desire to seek this information is related to an important intellectual virtue: curiosity. Specifically, curiosity can be defined as desiring and persisting in information seeking and exploration, especially in response to uncertainty or information gaps. Despite the role curiosity plays in learning, uncertainty is often viewed negatively by students in educational contexts, where performance is valued and leads to performance-oriented goals, rather than mastery-oriented goals. In this chapter, we review how uncertainty-driven curiosity can support learning and develop effective learners. We include a discussion of how curiosity can also support the development of more general intellectual character through its relation to creativity, open-minded thinking, and intellectual courage. Finally, we describe how uncertainty in education can be perceived in maladaptive ways that might suppress curiosity, and give specific strategies related to approaches to uncertainty that can be applied to educational contexts to support curiosity.
... Similarly, curiosity related to kindergarten children's academic performance even after controlling for effortful control, and the association was strongest for low-income children ). In addition to children's curiosity, the educational context is also important to consider, as negative perceptions of school can lead to lower academic performance for higher curious students (Kashdan and Yuen 2007). Importantly, it is very likely that the educational context can influence children's curiosity more directly and their learning indirectly, though research is needed to test this empirically . ...
This chapter focuses on the role and value of not knowing for creativity, learning and development. More specifically, it proposes a typology of states that are conducive, in different ways, for creative learning, including certain knowing, uncertain not knowing, uncertain knowing, and certain not knowing. They are discussed, in turn, in relation to four associated experiences: trust, anxiety, curiosity and wonder, respectively. Towards the end, two models are proposed that specify how and when these experiences contribute to the process of creative learning. The first is focused on macro stages, the second on micro processes. While the former starts from uncertain not knowing, goes through the interplay between uncertain knowing and certain not knowing, and ends in certain knowledge, the processual model reveals the intricate relations between these experiences in each and every instance of creative learning. The developmental and educational implications of revaluing not knowing as a generate state are discussed in the end.KeywordsUncertaintyKnowledgeAnxietyTrustCuriosityWonderCreative learning
... As a result, curious people are motivated to seek information that reduce the perception of novelty, complexity or ambiguity (Spielberger and Starr 1994). In addition to cases in which specific information is desired because people are exposed to the described stimulus characteristics, people with a chronic disposition of curiosity have a general tendency to seek stimuli with such characteristics or engage in general knowledge acquisition (Kashdan et al. 2004;Kashdan and Yuen 2007). ...
This review offers a framework of consumers’ situational curiosity by integrating research investigating the different stages of stimulating, experiencing, and resolving curiosity. Following this process perspective and focusing on marketing-relevant situations, it first provides an overview of triggers that have been used to stimulate curiosity and illustrates the implementation of these triggers in empirical studies. Subsequently, it synthesizes the key processes that are initiated when consumers sustain in the state of being curious and when they (presumably) have resolved their curiosity. These processes are assigned to affective consequences, cognitive consequences, or a third category, which includes the outcome variables of evaluation, decision making, and behavior. This article helps researchers and practitioners alike to gain a better overview of this fragmented research area and identifies research gaps and open questions for future research. Finally, recommendations for practitioners are given of how to effectively use curiosity-triggering stimuli in their marketing communication.
... Curiosity, an important foundation for scientific innovation [1], is characterized by the drive to seek out new information [2], desire to explore [3], and joy in learning [4,5]. Higher curiosity has been associated with numerous adaptive outcomes in childhood including more robust word acquisition [6], enhanced learning and exploration [7] and higher academic achievement [8,9], highlighting the potential importance of fostering curiosity from an early age. Our previous work found a positive association between higher curiosity and higher academic achievement, with a greater magnitude of benefit for children with socioeconomic disadvantage [10], raising the possibility that promoting curiosity in young children may be one way to mitigate the achievement gap associated with poverty [11]. ...
Objective
To examine the main and interactive effects of the amount of daily television exposure and frequency of parent conversation during shared television viewing on parent ratings of curiosity at kindergarten, and to test for moderation by socioeconomic status (SES).
Study design
Sample included 5100 children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort. Hours of daily television exposure and frequency of parent screen-time conversation were assessed from a parent interview at preschool, and the outcome of early childhood curiosity was derived from a child behavior questionnaire at kindergarten. Multivariate linear regression examined the main and interactive effects of television exposure and parent screen-time conversation on kindergarten curiosity and tested for moderation by SES.
Results
In adjusted models, greater number of hours of daily television viewing at preschool was associated with lower curiosity at kindergarten (B = -0.14, p = .008). More frequent parent conversation during shared screen-time was associated with higher parent-reported curiosity at kindergarten with evidence of moderation by SES. The magnitude of association between frequency of parent conversation during television viewing and curiosity was greater for children from low SES environments, compared to children from high SES environments: (SES ≤ median): B = 0.29, p < .001; (SES > median): B = 0.11, p < .001.
Conclusions
Higher curiosity at kindergarten was associated with greater frequency of parent conversation during shared television viewing, with a greater magnitude of association in low-SES families. While the study could not include measures of television program content, digital media use and non-screen time conversation, our results suggest the importance of parent conversation to promote early childhood curiosity, especially for children with socioeconomic disadvantage.
... In another study of Chinese high school students, curiosity was linked to higher academic performance on standardized tests (Wavo, 2004). And research on curiosity as a personality trait has demonstrated that academic performance varies across different learning environments depending on students' level of curiosity (Arnone & Grabowsky, 1994, Kashdan & Yuen, 2007. Curiosity has also been positively associated with academic persistence (Neblett et al., 2006, Smalls et al., 2007. ...
Curiosity is a universal and malleable positive character strength. It has been linked to physical, social, emotional, and psychological well-being, academic success, and success in adulthood. Curiosity is especially important in early childhood because this is a critical stage of development when children’s curiosity is still abundant and organic. But for all its value, curiosity remains under-recognized and under-studied. There is no universally agreed upon definition of curiosity in adults or children. As a result, the research community has varying opinions on how to define, measure, and enhance curiosity. And in many current day classrooms, an overly rigid top-down structure contributes to a disconcerting trend of diminishing curiosity as children grow older. Reviewing the scientific research across various fields, I describe seven psychological constructs (attention, novelty, solitude, inquiry, exploration, surprise, and awe) that can foster curiosity behaviors. I designed a Curiosity Toy Kit incorporating these seven curiosity components to be used as positive interventions for enhancing curiosity in early childhood, when children are 5-6 years old and entering formal education. Adults can use the Curiosity Toy Kit to encourage children to develop positive curiosity behaviors, helping them to flourish in school and beyond.
... The ten-item Rosenberg's self-esteem scale (RSES) was used to examine the participants' global self-esteem (Rosenberg, 1965;Schmitt & Allik, 2005). It has been used in more than 53 countries, including adolescents in Hong Kong (Kashdan & Yuen, 2007;Shek, 1998) and has obtained a high level of reliability and validity (Schmitt & Allik, 2005). The Cronbach's α of the self-esteem construct for both the male and female samples in this study were also satisfactory, with α = .80 ...
The present study examines and explores the indirect effects of intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity on well-being, namely self-esteem and life satisfaction, through presence of and search for meaning in life, and its gender difference among adolescents. 301 girls and 395 boys from Hong Kong participated in this cross-sectional survey study. Independent t-test, correlation and four mediation model analyses with a bootstrap of 5000 samples were conducted. Girls score higher in extrinsic religiosity (personal) and search for meaning in life; lower in self-esteem compared with boys. Presence of meaning in life was found to positively mediate the effects of intrinsic and extrinsic personal religiosity on self-esteem and life satisfaction for boys but is not significant for girls. However, intrinsic religiosity promotes higher search for meaning in life, which in turn lowers self-esteem only for girls. The indirect effect of extrinsic social religiosity on well-being was not significant for both genders. Finding suggests that boys benefit more from religiosity on well-being.
... Much ID:p0175 of the recent curiosity research and theories have focused on children at the K-12 level and how their curiosity can be enhanced through various instructional approaches and curricular choices (Von Renesse & Ecke, 2016). Yet, curiosity extends across the lifespan and is enhanced and reduced by many factors (Dyche & Epstein, 2011;Kashdan & Yuen, 2007;Yager & Kay, 2019;Zion & Sadeh, 2007). ...
Emotional caring and curiosity are associated with exceptional patient care. Combined, the characteristics form empathetic curiosity. Little is known about nursing students' curiosity. Our quantitative research study provides insight into connections between caring and curiosity of nursing students both early and late in their programs of study. Students early their program perceived more caring from others toward them than the students late in the program. The students did not differ in their curiosity or caring levels for others. Our findings indicate a positive relationship between caring and curiosity. Nursing student curiosity may be reflective of their preparation as professionals.
... The detailed analysis of the results of present study showed a significant positive relation of curiosity-exploration with achievement motivation in undergraduate students which are in line with previous researches (Fredrickson & Cohn, 2008;Kashdan et.al. 2018) that showed positive role played by curiosity-exploration in increasing the achievement motivation and well-being of people and also the increase in achievement motivation i.e., drive toward goals is further related to enhanced learning (Pluck & Johnson, 2011), success and better job performance (Bawden et al. 2007;Carlson, 2005;Kashdan & Yuen, 2007). Numerous other researches (Epstein, 2013;Kashdan et.al.2018;Kyndt, ...
... In addition, they found measures of curiosity to have a relationship to measures of hope and wellbeing (see also, Kashdan, 2004Kashdan, , 2009. In another study, Kashdan and Yuen (2007) found that when the school environment was supportive of growth and learning, higher levels of curiosity were demonstrated to be associated with higher scores on national achievement exams and school grades. von Stumm et al. (2011) conducted a meta-analysis and found that curiosity had as much influence on academic achievement as intelligence. ...
The present study is the first to empirically test a hierarchical, positive-oriented model of the self and its relationship to second language (L2) achievement motivation, and compare it in three different cultural contexts of Japan, the United States, and Taiwan. Based on the L2 self-model (Lake, 2016), three levels of constructs were developed: Global Self (i.e., Flourishing, Curiosity, and Hope); Positive L2 domain self (i.e., interested-in-L2 self, harmonious passion for L2 learning, and mastery L2 goal orientation); and L2 Motivational Variables (i.e., reading, speaking and listening self-efficacy). A total of 667 students participated in this study, including 181 first-year college students in Japan, 159 high school students in Taiwan, and 327 community college students in the United States. All the participants were learning L2 in school. Results showed that the measures of positive global self, L2 domain self, and L2 motivational self all had a stronger relationship within their respective levels, and progressively weaker relationships as level of generality/specificity became more distal. Furthermore, the relationships among measures varied in the differing cultural contexts with the Japan-based student participants relatively lower on all measures. Implications for teacher educators in the L2 context have been discussed.
... These specific variables were chosen for three primary reasons. First, several studies indicate that these variables have a meaningful relationship (i.e., at least a medium effect size) with academic achievement (Kashdan and Yuen 2007;Pintrich and de Groot 1990;von Stumm and Chamorro-Premuzic 2011;Zhan 2014;Zimmerman et al. 1992). Second, several other studies suggest that these variables are meaningfully related to school success more broadly via predicting (i.e., rs > .30) ...
In this study, the associations among growth mindset, school belonging, and hope to several important academic variables are examined in a diverse sample of 447 high school students. In addition, the contribution made by growth mindset and school belonging to these academic variables is compared to hope’s contribution. Data were collected via a school-administered survey and study analyses include a series of hierarchical regressions. This study had several notable findings. First, although growth mindset and school belonging accounted for meaningful percentages of variance in behavioral engagement, academic self-efficacy, and curiosity after controlling for demographics, both constructs did not meaningfully predict academic achievement, academic self-efficacy for self-regulation, or educational expectations. Second, hope not only accounted for the majority of variance across all academic variables compared to growth mindset and school belonging, but also explained a meaningful portion of all the academic variables (except educational expectations) beyond demographics and both variables. These results indicate that hope interventions might be a better investment than both growth mindset and school belonging interventions.
... Individuals who work in places that support curiosity and exploration seem to support a general orientation towards learning (Kirby et al., 2003;Yang et al., 2004). Developing such an environment also seems to be critical for supporting those who already have a desire for learning and who want to perform well (Kashdan and Yuen, 2007). ...
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between a lifelong learning mindset and career success. A lifelong learning mindset is a way of approaching one's work with curiosity, strategic thinking, and resilience. Career success refers to objective (e.g., number of promotions) and subjective (e.g., job satisfaction) indicators of progress and fulfillment in one's work.
Design/methodology/approach
Two studies are presented. Both studies draw from an accounting and finance program at a Canadian university. In study 1, data were collected from students ( n = 62) and their supervisors at the end of a four-month co-operative education (co-op) work term. In study 2, data were collected from graduates ( n = 148).
Findings
Results suggest that developing a lifelong learning mindset enhances both objective and subjective career success. Participants' lifelong learning mindset was associated with objective career success in both studies (supervisor-rated performance in study 1 and number of promotions in study 2). Lifelong learning mindset was associated with subjective career success in study 2 (job satisfaction, work engagement, and job-related self-efficacy) but not in study 1 (experience satisfaction).
Originality/value
This article presents the first empirical examination of the relationship between a lifelong learning mindset and career success. Insights from the article highlight the fact that educators and workplace managers might work together to promote a lifelong learning mindset for current and future workers.
... Regarding the final PACE component of how curiosity enhances memory, it has also been shown how trait curiosity enhances real-world learning [96][97][98]. For example, it has been shown that trait curiosity mediates the effect on learning during a medical training program [97]. ...
Curiosity plays a fundamental role for learning and memory, but the neural mechanisms that stimulate curiosity and its effect on memory are poorly understood. Accumulating evidence suggests that curiosity states are related to modulations in activity in the dopaminergic circuit and that these modulations impact memory encoding and consolidation for both targets of curiosity and incidental information encountered during curiosity states. To account for this evidence, we propose the Prediction, Appraisal, Curiosity, and Exploration (PACE) framework, which attempts to explain curiosity and memory in terms of cognitive processes, neural circuits, behavior, and subjective experience. The PACE framework generates testable predictions that can stimulate future investigation of the mechanisms underlying curiosity-related memory enhancements.
... English items were translated into Chinese by two management scholars competent in both languages and then the Chinese version was translated back into English by a language professional. The subjective happiness scale (Kashdan and Yuen, 2007), the PO scale (Chi and Han, 2008) and the flow scale (Hou and Fan, 2013) had previously been used in Chinese-language contexts. ...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore flow as an underlying mechanism linking psychological ownership (PO) and subjective happiness and identify how flow affects employees’ subjective happiness.
Design/methodology/approach
Two separate samples were used. Sample 1 examined the responses of 120 female spa workers. Sample 2 examined the responses of 334 male logistics technicians. Data were collected through paper-based questionnaires across two time points.
Findings
PO was positively related to employees’ subjective happiness across both samples. Furthermore, PO has distinct impacts on employees’ subjective happiness through two distinct measures of flow: immersion and mastery. The authors found that immersion fully mediates the relationship between PO and employee subjective happiness in Sample 1, and mastery in Sample 2.
Originality/value
This is one of the first empirical studies to examine whether and how PO increases employees’ subjective happiness. The results contribute to the literature by providing a theoretical rationale for and an empirical analysis of a model wherein flow mediates the linkage between employees’ feelings of PO and their subjective happiness.
... Studies of curiosity among students suggest that curious students learn better than those who lack an intrinsic drive for new knowledge and have strong interests in understanding and explaining the world ). Student curiosity is a prerequisite to development of intelligence, wisdom, and coping with stress (Renninger et al. 1992), motivation and improved learning (Kashdan et al. 2004), engagement and performance in learning contexts (Harackiewicz et al. 2002;Kashdan and Yuen 2007), and emotional intelligence (Leonard and Harvey 2007). Lack of curiosity represents a risk factor for anxiety disorders, with adverse influences on academic achievement (Silvia 2006). ...
This paper examines relationships among curiosity, engagement, and student development across five domains—(1) cognitive complexity, (2) knowledge acquisition, construction, integration, and application, (3) humanitarianism and civic engagement, (4) intrapersonal and interpersonal development, and (5) practical competence. Although extant research examines antecedents and outcomes of engagement extensively, no study explicitly assesses curiosity, engagement, and student development. Results suggest that engagement mediates epistemic and perceptual types of curiosity and student development. Educators and administrators can use these findings to create engaging education during which curiosity swiftly transforms into holistic student development.
... College students with high levels of curiosity are likely to have open and receptive attitudes toward new ideas and to pursue growth-oriented behaviors (Kashdan & Steger, 2007). Curiosity also facilitates students' engagement in novel and challenging learning experiences that stretch their existing skills and knowledge (Kashdan & Yuen, 2007). ...
This study examined the role of curiosity and ethnic identity in career decision self‐efficacy among Asian American college students. Given that curiosity can promote the process of exploring one’s possible future self, opportunities, and career goals, the authors hypothesized that curiosity would be associated with career decision self‐efficacy, directly or indirectly, through a sense of ethnic identity. Results based on data from 425 Asian American incoming first‐year college students suggest that students with high curiosity tend to present a stronger sense of competence in completing career decision‐related tasks. These findings also confirmed a hypothesis that ethnic identity mediates the association between curiosity and career decision self‐efficacy. Implications for future research and career counseling with Asian American college students are discussed.
... In line with its relation to learning and, therefore, mastering novel things, curiosity has multidimensional connections with various concepts. While White (1959) relates curiosity with competence, Kashdan and Yuen (2007) point at the relationship between curiosity and academic achievement. Regarding the search for learning new things, Arnone, et al. (2011) refer to the connection between curiosity and exploratory behavior. ...
As a concept motivating learners, curiosity has increasingly succeeded in capturing the imagination of researchers in language education especially in recent decades. Researchers have started to approach the driving force of curiosity in learning the target language from a variety of perspectives. They appreciated its positive contributions to the language development of learners stressing that curiosity serves as a motivation. Yet, there is a need for further research on curiosity and its effects on the improvement of learners' acquisition of target language in second language learning setting. Therefore, this case study aims to investigate the effects of curiosity on the second language learning process of 10 foreign learners of Turkish in second language setting. The data were collected through reflective reports. The results of the content analysis revealed that curiosity contributed to the language knowledge and language development of the participants. The areas of contribution were revealed as linguistic, social-cultural and pragmatic knowledge. The developments in these three specific aspects resulted in a holistic development in the target language.
... Among high school students in Hong Kong, student scores on the SHS were related to their perceptions of their school's quality and their own grades (Kashdan & Yuen, 2007). Similarly, like the SWLS, the SHS taken at the beginning of an introductory psychology course was also related to final grades (Borrello, 2005). ...
Measures of student engagement toward coursework at both macro- and micro-levels are reviewed in Chapter 8 by Kevin Zabel and Amy Heger. The latter includes descriptions of measures of student interest, student engagement, as well as ancillary measures such as grit and boredom; whereas the former includes more general measure (e.g., national survey of student engagement).
... Some researchers have been concerned about the apparent lack of curiosity among students in primary and secondary schools (Archer et al., 2016;Engelhard Jr. & Monsaas, 1988). Others have reported that curiosity among school students may be dependent on the extent to which the school culture supports curiosity and exploration (Kashdan & Yuen, 2007). By contrast, Schmitt and Lahroodi (2008) argued that curiosity might revive when students enter university. ...
Curiosity is a motivation construct that is important at all levels of education. This study investigated the curiosity experiences of tertiary students. Individual interviews were carried out with 20 tertiary students. Participants were asked to describe experiences of wanting-to-learn (positive curiosity) or not-wanting-to-learn (negative curiosity) that they had recently experienced in regular classes. Participants reported they had recently experienced both forms of curiosity, which correlated with high and low levels of cognitive learning behaviours. Antecedent factors included personal interest, confidence, expectancies, value, and teacher influences.
... The research from [10] concludes that students with high academic achievement show higher level of self confidence than lower academic achiever students. The other research from [11] states that students with greater curiosity in more challenging schools have the greatest academic success. Otherwise, students with greatercuriosity in less challenging schools have the least academic success. ...
The purpose of this research was to produce instructional package in 7 th grade on the 2 nd semester with POGIL that consisted of lesson plans and student worksheets, which hadgood quality. The quality was determined based on Nieveen criteria, including validity, practicality, and effectiveness. This study was a development research. The developing model in this research was Plomp model, which consisted of preliminary research, development, and assessment phase. The research instruments were validation sheets, teacher assessment sheets, observation sheets for learning process, student assessment questionnaires, tests, questionnaires, and observation sheets for attitudes. The analysis of the validity and practicality of the data was done by converting the quantitative data in the form of assessment result score into the qualitative data in the form of five scale. The analysis of the effectiveness of the test results was conducted by determining the percentage of the students' learning mastery. The assessment of questionnaires and attitudes observation was conducted by determining the percentage of the students for each category. The result of the validation showed that the developed instructional package was very valid based on the lesson plans and student worksheets. The results of the tryout indicated that lesson plans and student worksheets were practical and effective. The instructional packagewas in the very practical category based on teacher's assessment and practical category based on the result of observation for learning process and students' assessment. The instructional package was also in the effective category based on students' learning mastery, questionnaires of religiosity, and questionnaires of attitudes.
... Happiness was measured using the Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS; Appendix 1), which was developed by Lyubomirsky and Lepper to measure happiness using both absolute ratings (two items) and ratings relative to peers (two items) (Lyubomirsky & Lepper, 1999), with a higher score indicating a higher level of happiness. The Chinese version of the SHS has been evaluated for its psychometric properties, linguistic equivalence of translation and reliability in several studies (Kashdan & Yuen, 2007;Chen et al. 2008;Tse et al. 2010;Tam et al. 2012). ...
Aims
There has recently been an increased interest in mental health indicators for the monitoring of population wellbeing, which is among the targets of Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations. Levels of subjective wellbeing and suicide rates have been proposed as indicators of population mental health, but prior research is limited.
Methods
Data on individual happiness and life satisfaction were sourced from a population-based survey in Hong Kong (2011). Suicide data were extracted from Coroner's Court files (2005–2013). Area characteristic variables included local poverty rate and four factors derived from a factor analysis of 21 variables extracted from the 2011 census. The associations between mean happiness and life satisfaction scores and suicide rates were assessed using Pearson correlation coefficient at two area levels: 18 districts and 30 quantiles of large street blocks (LSBs; n = 1620). LSB is a small area unit with a higher level of within-unit homogeneity compared with districts. Partial correlations were used to control for area characteristics.
Results
Happiness and life satisfaction demonstrated weak inverse associations with suicide rate at the district level ( r = −0.32 and −0.36, respectively) but very strong associations at the LSB quantile level ( r = −0.83 and −0.84, respectively). There were generally very weak or weak negative correlations across sex/age groups at the district level but generally moderate to strong correlations at the LSB quantile level. The associations were markedly attenuated or became null after controlling for area characteristics.
Conclusions
Subjective wellbeing is strongly associated with suicide at a small area level; socioeconomic factors can largely explain this association. Socioeconomic factors could play an important role in determining the wellbeing of the population, and this could inform policies aimed at enhancing population wellbeing.
... ., readiness to accept new situations) perspectives (Jovanovic & Gavrilov-Jerkovic, 2014) . Researchers identified curiosity as a characteristic of personal growth and psychological strength (Kashdan, Rose, & Fincham, 2004;Peterson & Seligman, 2004) that is related to life satisfaction, hope (Jovanovic & Brdaric, 2012;Kashdan, McKnight, Fincham, & Rose, 2011), academic success, and positive perceptions of learning environments (Kashdan & Yuen, 2007) . ...
This study examined how character strengths and the importance of family influenced Mexican American college students' (N = 129) career decision self-efficacy. Findings from a multiple regression analysis indicated that psychological grit and curiosity were significant predictors of career decision self-efficacy. The authors discuss the importance of these findings and provide recommendations for future research.
Curiosity and academic self-concept are essential factors in the process of learning, and relationships with parents have been suggested to be a critical element in nurturing children’s curiosity and academic self-concept. The current study examined the contribution of parents’ psychological control (PPC) to their children’s curiosity (both interest- and deprivation-type) and academic self-concept in a sample of 159 Israeli triads of elementary school-age children, their mothers, and their fathers. The results revealed negative associations between parents’ dependency- and achievement-oriented psychological control and children’s curiosity and academic concept. Fathers reported higher levels of achievement-oriented PPC than did mothers, and mothers’ PPC negatively contributed to children’s perceived openness. Implications for the learning process, as well as suggestions for professionals working in the school system, are discussed.
As we moved into the 21st century, it became clear that the success of any organization depends on more than just the technical skills of its managers, who lead the business. It also relies on the active participation of every employee and the quality of communication and interactions within the company. This study focuses on the development of onion models and how effective they are in improving interpersonal communication. The research employed a mixed-method approach, gathering data through reviews of existing literature (secondary data) and direct fieldwork, including interviews and Focus Group Discussions (FGD) for primary data. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to analyze the data. The participants in this study included 50 individuals ranging from owners and directors to managers, regular employees, and office assistants. The findings indicate that the onion model demonstrates a pattern of organizational communication that a) happens between individual members or across the whole organization, b) is formal and hierarchical, c) includes both verbal and non-verbal forms, d) can be direct or indirect, and e) serves the purpose of interaction and detailed discussion related to the company's internal operations. The study concludes that the onion model is effective for use in large and multinational companies.
This chapter highlights the ExCEL model, an evidence-based model proven to “expand the boundaries” in gifted education within the United States. The ExCEL model is a design-based continuous improvement approach that uses problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum as a universal screening with a dynamic performance assessment to identify culturally, linguistically and economically diverse students who have been historically excluded from gifted education contexts in the United States. This chapter will provide a description of the innovative STEM aligned PBL curriculum design process. Further, the curriculum aligned teacher professional learning grounded in the examination of implicit bias, perspective taking, data analysis, and reflection will be discussed.
This study aims to know the level of EFL students' Perceptual Curiosity . The level of EFL students' language proficiency. The correlational relationship between Iraqi EFL student's perceptual curiosity and their Language proficiency. To achieve the aims of this study, the researcher adapted Berlyne’s questionnaire to measure the level of perceptual curiosity for the students of the University of Mosul, the Department of English Language 3rd stage and the researcher adapting proficiency test from Kattab's study. After analyzing the data statistically, the study was found that the students of the University of Mosul, the Department of English, have a level of perceptual curiosity in addition to a level of language proficiency. Also this study found that there is correlation between students’ perceptual curiosity and their Language proficiency.
This chapter explores the characteristics of effective designers. It describes both behavioral and psychological differences between expert and novice designers. It closes with a review of how our cultural background can play a role in our design effectiveness.
The purpose of the study. The purpose of this study was to find out how deep the response of students to the assignment assigned by the health physical education teacher in determining the number of respondents when the teacher gave physical education assignments. Materials and methods. This research was descriptive quantitative research. The research began by collecting assignments that have been given through online methods to students in the form of google form. The study population was 108 students of SMP IT Raudhatur Rahmah Pekanbaru, Riau. The sample in this study was all students of SMP IT Raudhtaur Rahmah. The sampling technique applied was total sampling. Results. The results obtained based on several assignments that have been given via google form in this study were as follows: For the subject of the passing and catching, dribbling, and shooting on basketball learning, the average scores were 54.25%, 46, 01%, and 42.02%, respectively. Teachers must be more active and creative in packaging the learning process so that it attracts students to take part in the Physical Education learning provided and considering that the response of students in learning physical education during the Covid-19 pandemic was low Conclusions. Online learning was very ineffective as a learning process as it was caused by many factors and can be proven by the low of student response in doing the task which has been given. a solution is needed so that the teaching and learning process can be carried out with an appropriate method so that students are not disadvantaged in the learning activities themselves, which not only receive the knowledge they need, but also includes learning related to the character and emotion that should be given by the teacher in the learning process.
The aim of the study was to critically analyse teachers pedagogical approaches and how voice technology was used by students as a more knowledgeable other and the extent to which it affected students’ epistemic curiosity.
Using an exploratory ethnographic approach, Amazon’s Echo Dot voice technology was studied in lessons at Hillview School. Data was collected through participant observation, informal interviews and recordings of students’ interactions with ‘Alexa’. Students asked questions to Alexa in large numbers. Alexa was asked 87 questions during two lessons suggesting that Alexa was a digital more knowledgeable other. Types of questions asked to Alexa, such as ‘Can fish see water?’, were epistemic questions and suggestive of epistemic curiosity. Teachers used the Echo Dots infrequently and in a limited number of ways. Teachers relied upon a pedagogical approach and talk oriented around performance which overlooked students’ learning talk. The answer to why students might not be curious was not found. However, evidence to understand how and why they might appear not curious was revealed.
The study makes contributions to knowledge through the novel use of the Echo Dots to collect data and through a new data visualisation technique called ‘heatmaps’. The study contributes to knowledge by proposing three tentative notions that emerged inductively from the research: ‘performance-oriented talk’, ‘metricalisation’ and ‘regulativity’. The study aims to make a further contribution to knowledge by suggesting evidence of a ‘pedagogy of performance’. The study recommends ‘learning-oriented talk’ and development of Alexa ‘Skills’ as a way to disrupt the pedagogy of performance and as an area for further research.
This paper explores curiosity of Further Education (FE) lec- turers in the United Kingdom through personal narratives and focused group discussions. The paper identifies how curiosity is viewed by FE lecturers as a positive trait for learners to possess, yet when discussing their own curiosities, views changed. Narratives emerge of curiosity being more of a problematic trait to possess whilst lecturing within the business-like structures and an outcome driven environment of FE. The lack of space for lecturer’s curiosity was viewed not as a specific institutions problem, but as a system wide problem across the culture of FE. Lecturers felt that creating curiosity, created more work for themselves and was neither celebrated nor embraced within their FE settings.
The Cambridge Handbook of Motivation and Learning - by K. Ann Renninger February 2019
The Cambridge Handbook of Motivation and Learning - by K. Ann Renninger February 2019
C. Midgley et al. (2001) raised important questions about the effects of performance-approach goals. The present authors disagree with their characterization of the research findings and implications for theory. They discuss 3 reasons to revise goal theory: (a) the importance of separating approach from avoidance strivings, (b) the positive potential of performance-approach goals, and (c) identification of the ways performance-approach goals can combine with mastery goals to promote optimal motivation. The authors review theory and research to substantiate their claim that goal theory is in need of revision, and they endorse a multiple goal perspective. The revision of goal theory is underway and offers a more complex, but necessary, perspective on important issues of motivation, learning, and achievement.
Although most individuals pass through adolescence without excessively high levels of "storm and stress," many do experience difficulty. Why? Is there something unique about this developmental period that puts adolescents at risk for difficulty? This article focuses on this question and advances the hypothesis that some of the negative psychological changes associated with adolescent development result from a mismatch between the needs of developing adolescents and the opportunities afforded them by their social environments. It provides examples of how this mismatch develops in the school and in the home and how it is linked to negative age-related changes in early adolescents' motivation and self-perceptions. Ways in which more developmentally appropriate social environments can be created are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
A new conceptualization of perceived control was used to test a process model describing the contribution of these perceptions to school achievement for students in elementary school (N = 220). Three sets of beliefs were distinguished: (a) expectations about whether one can influence success and failure in school (control beliefs); (b) expectations about the strategies that are effective in producing academic outcomes; and (c) expectations about one's own capacities to execute these strategies. Correlational and path analyses were consistent with a process model which predicted that children's perceived control (self-report) influences academic performance (grades and achievement test scores) by promoting or undermining active engagement in learning activities (as reported by teachers) and that teachers positively influence children's perceived control by provision of contingency and involvement (as reported by students). These results have implications for theories of perceived control and also suggest one pathway by which teachers can enhance children's motivation in school.
Although the study of self-concept has been a topic of great interest and much study in the social sciences for many decades, it is really only in the past 30 years that any fruitful expansion in knowledge of both its theoretical structure and its related measurement has been forthcoming. From three perspectives-past, present, and future-the author presents abbreviated and selected highlights of important construct validity findings related to this research and postulates possible trends and areas of self-concept research yet to be explored.
The relative influence of interest and self-efficacy beliefs on each other over 1 year was examined in 2 longitudinal samples of students, 1 of elementary school students (Grade 5, N = 126) and 1 of middle school students (Grade 7, N = 221). Interest and competence ratings on the Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional scales (J. L. Holland, 1997) were assessed using the Inventory of Children's Activities-Revised (T. J. G. Tracey & C. C. Ward, 1998). Responses were examined using structural equation modeling, and the results demonstrated that there were changes both in the structure and level of interest and competence ratings over time. The circumplex structure was found to become more prominent over time, especially by 8th grade, and overall mean levels of interest and competence ratings decreased over time. Interest and competence ratings were found to predict each other equally over time. Finally, there were significant grade, gender, time, Time × Grade, and Time × Gender effects on the scale score means. Results are discussed with respect to implications for interest development and assessment.
Four studies examined the construct validity of two global self-esteem measures. In Studies 1 through 3, the Single-Item Self-Esteem Scale (SISE) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE) showed strong convergent validity for men and women, for different ethnic groups, and for both college students and community members. The SISE and the RSE had nearly identical correlations with a wide range of criterion measures, including domain-specific self-evaluations, self-evaluative biases, social desirability, personality, psychological and physical health, peer ratings of group behavior, academic outcomes, and demographic variables. Study 4 showed that the SISE had only moderate convergent validity in a sample of children. Overall, the findings support the reliability and validity of the SISE and suggest it can provide a practical alternative to the RSE in adult samples. More generally, the findings contribute to the research literature by further elaborating the nomological network of global self-esteem.
Self-esteem has been linked to a diverse array of positive and negative affective states. The present research explored the nature of these relationships. Study 1 found that self-esteem (as measured by the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale) is more closely associated with self-relevant emotional states than with emotional states that do not directly implicate the self. Study 2 replicated these findings and found that although several personality variables predicted participant’s emotional reactions to success and failure, these effects were eliminated once self-esteem was taken into account. Study 3 found that self-esteem predicted participant’s self-relevant emotional reactions to failure but not their non-self-relevant emotional reactions. These findings provide converging evidence that self-esteem is most closely linked to a particular class of emotions that pertain to how people feel about themselves.
The relative influence of interest and self-efficacy beliefs on each other over 1 year was examined in 2 longitudinal samples of students, 1 of elementary school students (Grade 5, N = 126) and 1 of middle school students (Grade 7, N = 221). Interest and competence ratings on the Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional scales (J. L. Holland, 1997) were assessed using the Inventory of Children's Activities—Revised (T. J. G. Tracey & C. C. Ward, 1998). Responses were examined using structural equation modeling, and the results demonstrated that there were changes both in the structure and level of interest and competence ratings over time. The circumplex structure was found to become more prominent over time, especially by 8th grade, and overall mean levels of interest and competence ratings decreased over time. Interest and competence ratings were found to predict each other equally over time. Finally, there were significant grade, gender, time, Time × Grade, and Time × Gender effects on the scale score means. Results are discussed with respect to implications for interest development and assessment.
The goals of this article are twofold: (a) briefly highlight the merits of residual centering for representing interaction and powered terms in standard regression contexts (e.g., Lance, 1988), and (b) extend the residual centering procedure to represent latent variable interactions. The proposed method for representing latent variable interactions has potential advantages over extant procedures. First, the latent variable interaction is derived from the observed covariation pattern among all possible indicators of the interaction. Second, no constraints on particular estimated parameters need to be placed. Third, no recalculations of parameters are required. Fourth, model estimates are stable and interpretable. In our view, the orthogonalizing approach is technically and conceptually straightforward, can be estimated using any structural equation modeling software package, and has direct practical interpretation of parameter estimates. Its behavior in terms of model fit and estimated standard errors is very reasonable, and it can be readily generalized to other types of latent variables where nonlinearity or collinearity are involved (e.g., powered variables).
Individual differences related to emotions are typically represented as emotion traits. Although important, these descriptive models often do not address the psychological dynamics that underlie the trait. Appraisal theories of emotion assume that individual differences in emotions can be traced to differences in patterns of appraisal, but this hypothesis has largely gone untested. The present research explored whether individual differences in the emotion of interest, known as trait curiosity, consist of patterns of appraisal. After completing several measures of trait curiosity, participants read complex poems (Experiment 1) or viewed simple and complex pictures (Experiment 2) and then gave ratings of interest and interest's appraisal components. The effect of trait curiosity on interest was fully mediated by appraisals. Multilevel analyses suggested that curious people differ in the amount of appraisal rather than in the kinds of appraisals relevant to interest. Appraisal theories can offer a process-oriented explanation of emotion traits that bridges state and trait emotional experience.
This study investigated 3 broad classes of individual-differences variables (job-search motives, competencies, and constraints) as predictors of job-search intensity among 292 unemployed job seekers. Also assessed was the relationship between job-search intensity and reemployment success in a longitudinal context. Results show significant relationships between the predictors employment commitment, financial hardship, job-search self-efficacy, and motivation control and the outcome job-search intensity. Support was not found for a relationship between perceived job-search constraints and job-search intensity. Motivation control was highlighted as the only lagged predictor of job-search intensity over time for those who were continuously unemployed. Job-search intensity predicted Time 2 reemployment status for the sample as a whole, but not reemployment quality for those who found jobs over the study's duration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
An imbalance exists between the role of curiosity as a motivational force in nearly all human endeavors and the lack of scientific attention given to the topic. In recent years, however, there has been a proliferation of concepts that capture the essence of curiosity-recognizing, seeking out, and showing a preference for the new. In this chapter, we combine this work to address the nature of curiosity, where it fits in the larger scheme of positive emotions, the advantages of being curious in social relationships, links between curiosity and elements of well-being, and how it has been used in interventions to improve people's quality of life. Our emphasis is on methodologically sophisticated findings that show how curiosity operates in the laboratory and everyday life, and how, under certain conditions, curiosity can be a profound source of strength or a liability. People who are regularly curious and willing to embrace the novelty, uncertainty, and challenges that are inevitable as we navigate the shoals of everyday life are at an advantage in creating a fulfilling existence compared with their less curious peers. Our brief review is designed to bring further attention to this neglected, underappreciated, human universal.
C. Midgley et al. (2001) raised important questions about the effects of performance-approach goals. The present authors disagree with their characterization of the research findings and implications for theory. They discuss 3 reasons to revise goal theory: (a) the importance of separating approach from avoidance strivings, (b) the positive potential of performance-approach goals, and (c) identification of the ways performance-approach goals can combine with mastery goal to promote optimal motivation. The authors review theory and research to substantiate their claim that goal theory is in need of revision, and they endorse a multiple goal perspective. The revision of goal theory is underway and offers a more complex, but necessary, perspective on important issues of motivation, learning, and achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
People in different cultures have strikingly different construals of the self, of others, and of the interdependence of the 2. These construals can influence, and in many cases determine, the very nature of individual experience, including cognition, emotion, and motivation. Many Asian cultures have distinct conceptions of individuality that insist on the fundamental relatedness of individuals to each other. The emphasis is on attending to others, fitting in, and harmonious interdependence with them. American culture neither assumes nor values such an overt connectedness among individuals. In contrast, individuals seek to maintain their independence from others by attending to the self and by discovering and expressing their unique inner attributes. As proposed herein, these construals are even more powerful than previously imagined. Theories of the self from both psychology and anthropology are integrated to define in detail the difference between a construal of the self as independent and a construal of the self as interdependent. Each of these divergent construals should have a set of specific consequences for cognition, emotion, and motivation; these consequences are proposed and relevant empirical literature is reviewed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
A new conceptualization of perceived control was used to test a process model describing the contribution of these perceptions to school achievement for students in elementary school (
N = 220). Three sets of beliefs were distinguished: (a) expectations about whether one can influence success and failure in school (
control beliefs); (b) expectations about the
strategies that are effective in producing academic outcomes; and (c) expectations about one's own
capacities to execute these strategies. Correlational and path analyses were consistent with a process model which predicted that children's perceived control (self-report) influences academic performance (grades and achievement test scores) by promoting or undermining active
engagement in learning activities (as reported by teachers) and that teachers positively influence children's perceived control by provision of
contingency and
involvement (as reported by students). These results have implications for theories of perceived control and also suggest one pathway by which teachers can enhance children's motivation in school. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
RESEARCH IS REVIEWED WHICH TREATS PERFORMANCE AND SATISFACTION AS A FUNCTION OF THE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INDIVIDUAL AND THOSE OF THE INTERPERSONAL AND NONINTERPERSONAL ENVIRONMENTS. RELEVANT THEORETICAL POSITIONS ARE CONSIDERED. ALTERNATIVE MODELS FOR THE ANALYSIS OF INTERACTIONS OR TRANSACTIONS BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS AND ENVIRONMENTS ARE DISCUSSED. THE CONCLUSION POINTS TO 3 QUESTIONS: SHOULD ONE CONSIDER THE PERCEIVED OR ACTUAL ENVIRONMENT? WHAT UNITS SHOULD BE USED AND SHOULD THESE BE THE SAME UNITS OF ANALYSIS FOR INDIVIDUALS AND ENVIRONMENTS? WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THE PROCESSES INVOLVED IN INDIVIDUAL ENVIRONMENT RELATIONSHIPS? (3 P. REF.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Research on curiosity has undergone 2 waves of intense activity. The 1st, in the 1960s, focused mainly on curiosity's psychological underpinnings. The 2nd, in the 1970s and 1980s, was characterized by attempts to measure curiosity and assess its dimensionality. This article reviews these contributions with a concentration on the 1st wave. It is argued that theoretical accounts of curiosity proposed during the 1st period fell short in 2 areas: They did not offer an adequate explanation for why people voluntarily seek out curiosity, and they failed to delineate situational determinants of curiosity. Furthermore, these accounts did not draw attention to, and thus did not explain, certain salient characteristics of curiosity: its intensity, transience, association with impulsivity, and tendency to disappoint when satisfied. A new account of curiosity is offered that attempts to address these shortcomings. The new account interprets curiosity as a form of cognitively induced deprivation that arises from the perception of a gap in knowledge or understanding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This article presents a social cognitive framework for understanding three intricately linked aspects of career development: (a) the formation and elaboration of career-relevant interests, (b) selection of academic and career choice options, and (c) performance and persistence in educational and occupational pursuits. The framework, derived primarily from Bandura's (1986) general social cognitive theory, emphasizes the means by which individuals exercise personal agency in the career development process, as well as extra-personal factors that enhance or constrain agency. In particular, we focus on self-efficacy, expected outcome, and goal mechanisms and how they may interrelate with other person (e.g., gender), contextual (e.g., support system), and experiential/learning factors. Twelve sets of propositions are offered to organize existing findings and guide future research on the theory. We also present a meta-analysis of relevant findings and suggest specific directions for future empirical and theory-extension activity.
Although influences of interest on learning are well documented, mediating processes have not been clarified. The authors investigated how individual and situational interest factors contribute to topic interest and text learning. Traditional self-report measures were combined with novel interactive computerized methods of recording cognitive and affective reactions to science and popular culture texts, monitoring their development in real time. Australian and Canadian students read 4 expository texts. Both individual interest variables and specific text titles influenced topic interest. Examination of processes predictive of text learning indicated that topic interest was related to affective response, affect to persistence, and persistence to learning. Combining self-rating scales with dynamic measures of student activities provided new insight into how interest influences learning.
Four studies examined the construct validity of two global self-esteem measures. In Studies 1 through 3, the Single-Item Self-Esteem Scale (SISE) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE) showed strong convergent validity for men and women, for different ethnic groups, and for both college students and community members. The SISE and the RSE had nearly identical correlations with a wide range of criterion measures, including domain-specific self-evaluations, self-evaluative biases, social desirability, personality, psychological and physical health, peer ratings of group behavior, academic outcomes, and demographic variables. Study 4 showed that the SISE had only moderate convergent validity in a sample of children. Overall, the findings support the reliability and validity of the SISE and suggest it can provide a practical alternative to the RSE in adult samples. More generally, the findings contribute to the research literature by further elaborating the nomological network of global self-esteem.
Using a ''subjectivist'' approach to the assessment of happiness, a new 4-item measure of global subjective happiness was developed and validated in 14 studies with a total of 2 732 participants. Data was collected in the United States from students on two college campuses and one high school campus, from community adults in two California cities, and from older adults. Students and community adults in Moscow, Russia also participated in this research. Results indicated that the Subjective Happiness Scale has high internal consistency, which was found to be stable across samples. Test-retest and self-peer correlations suggested good to excellent reliability, and construct validation studies of convergent and discriminant validity confirmed the use of this scale to measure the construct of subjective happiness. The rationale for developing a new measure of happiness, as well as advantages of this scale, are discussed.
Investigated the verbal behavior of 152 undergraduates in 4 different classes. Trait anxiety, trait curiosity, and perceived instructor threat were measured by the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory, the State–Trait Curiosity Inventory, and the Tuckman Teacher Feedback Form. Student-initiated questions and responses to instructor questions were rated by trained observers during 8 1-hr class sessions. In general, males gave more responses than females, and Ss who perceived their instructors as threatening gave fewer responses than those who rated their instructors as nonthreatening. High curiosity stimulated student-initiated verbal behavior for both sexes, but only when the instructor was perceived as nonthreatening. For males, high anxiety inhibited the students' responses to instructor questions when the instructor was perceived as threatening, whereas females gave few responses to instructor questions regardless of their personality characteristics. (20 ref)
Psychologists have always been intrigued in interest, and modern research on interest can be found in nearly every area of the field: researchers studying emotions, cognition, development, education, aesthetics, personality, motivation, and vocations have developed intriguing ideas about what interest is and how it works. This book presents an integrated picture of how interest has been studied in all of the wide-ranging areas of psychology. Using modern theories of cognition and emotion as an integrative framework, it examines the nature of interest, what makes things interesting, the role of interest in personality, and the development of people's idiosyncratic interests, hobbies, and avocations. The examination reveals deep similarities between seemingly different fields of psychology and illustrates the profound importance of interest, curiosity, and intrinsic motivation for understanding why people do what they do. A comprehensive work devoted to interest, this book reviews the history of psychological thought on interest, presents classic and modern research, and suggests fruitful directions for future work.
This study explored the influence of honesty, cooperation and curiosity on the process of effective learning in school settings. It is speculated that these variables might promote academic success of students and the progress of their schools. The variables were assessed by different t-tests to examine the gender differences among students. The results indicated that male and female Chinese students differed in honesty with girls more honest than boys. They also differed in cooperation with girls more cooperative and boys more competitive. It was also found that males were as curious as females. The influences of honesty, cooperation and curiosity on school achievement were examined by a multiple regression analysis. Results suggested a relative influence of curiosity and honesty on school achievement and revealed that school achievement was not influenced by cooperative learning.
Key words: honesty, cooperation, curiosity and achievement.
IFE Psychologia Vol.12(2) 2004: 178-188
Individual differences on an established laboratory task of visual short-term novelty preferences were correlated with achievement test scores for 40 third-grade and 45 fifth-grade children. A positive correlation (r = .35, p < .002) for the total sample (N = 85) confirmed the often hypothesized influence of curiosity motivation on intellectual performance; subsample gender-grade inconsistencies were statistically interpreted as a consequence of errant individual strategies and limited variance in the novelty task. The relationships were cross-validated in a companion study with the same short-term novelty paradigm, but with a play construction task for novelty preferences and a different achievement test battery for second- and fifth-grade children. High correlations between teacher ratings of curiosity and achievement test scores, when analyzed by multiple regression procedures, seemed to be an artifact of teachers' knowledge of their students' intellectual status.
Longitudinal studies suggest that law school has a corrosive effect upon the well-being (Benjamin, et al. 1986; Sheldon & Krieger, 2004) and values and motivation (Sheldon & Krieger, 2004) of students, ostensibly because of its problematic institutional culture (McKinney, 2002; Schuwerk, 2004). In a three year study of two different law schools, we applied self-determination theory's dynamic process model of thriving (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 2000) to explain such findings. Students at both schools declined in psychological need satisfaction and well-being over the three years. However, student reports of greater perceived autonomy support by faculty predicted less radical declines in need satisfaction, which in turn predicted better well-being in the third year, and also a higher GPA, better bar exam results, and more self-determined motivation for the first job after graduation. Institution-level analyses showed that although students at both schools suffered, one school was more controlling than the other, predicting greater difficulties for its students in terms of well-being, job motivation and bar passage. Implications for SDT and for legal education are discussed.
Based on a large, representative, 6-year longitudinal sample of Hong Kong students (7,802 students in 56 high schools), we examined relations among academic self-concept, academic achievement, and language of instruction (Chinese as compared with English). In support of the cross-cultural generalizability of the reciprocal effects model, prior self-concept had significant effects on subsequent achievement beyond the effects of prior achievement; and prior achievement had effects on subsequent self-concept as well. Support for the reciprocal effects model was not influenced by language of instruction, and the strength of that support did not differ in English and Chinese language high schools. Particularly in the early high school years, however, instruction in a second language (English rather than Chinese) had substantial negative effects on both academic self-concept and academic achievement.
Educators and psychologists alike have trumpeted calls for a reduced focus on deficits and pathology and increased attention to strengths and general wellness in all children. Life satisfaction is one of the most well-established indicators of general wellness and, moreover, positive functioning. Most examinations of children's life satisfaction have examined the role of family relations and intrapersonal variables. Studies of life satisfaction in relation to schooling are less prevalent, despite the extraordinary focus on education during this developmental period. Initial studies have examined the extent to which a few categories of school-related factors (school climate, intelligence and ability grouping at school, academic achievement and overall appraisals of one's happiness with school) are correlated with students' life satisfaction. Notably, most empirical examinations have examined one or few school-related factors in isolation. The purpose of the current article is to provide a comprehensive summary of the multiple school-related correlates of life satisfaction through a thorough review of the literature. Implications of the literature base for educators and future research are discussed.
Dewey (1913) suggested some time ago that trying to find out what is of interest to students is an important part of schooling; on the other hand, “making things interesting” is artificial and often unsuccessful. Two studies investigating the placement of interesting detail in a text about a physicist and his scientific work are reported here. In both studies, undergraduate students were asked to read the science text under a variety of conditions and then to recall important information on a set of measures. Results indicated that attention of students was diverted from important generalizations in text to interesting, sometimes irrelevant, detail. Placement of the detail did not affect recall, but overall interestingness of the text did, particularly if students knew little about the topic of the text. Implications for instruction are discussed.
Conditions that confront students in formal schooling–instruction in groups, sharing teacher’s attention, working independently, dealing with arbitrary rules regulating behavior–are not conducive to learning. Teachers deal with these circumstances by encouraging facilitative dispositions in students or by making learning events more appealing. Cultures differ in the emphasis they place on these two strategies. Japanese tend to stress developing adaptive dispositions; Americans try to make the learning context more attractive. National differences in educational achievement may be more completely understood by analysis of cultural differences in student dispositions. The interaction of student characteristics and teacher strategies creates very different classroom climates in the two countries.
This study explored the problem of under-achievement in Hong Kong. Underachievers were compared with high achievers and low achievers on their motivational characteristics. The findings generally supported that motivational variables were important factors in discriminating under-achievers and high achievers. W hile under-achievers had poor academic self-concept, low attainment value in learning, and deficiencies in using effective learning strategies, they did not demonstrate maladaptive attributional pattern as described in Western studies. Implications of these findings for the study of under-achievement and implementation of interventions are discussed.
This article presents a comprehensive definition and conceptual model of person-organization fit that incorporates supplementary as well as complementary perspectives on fit. To increase the precision of the construct's definition, it is also distinguished from other forms of environmental compatibility, silch as person-group and person-vocation fit. Once defined, commensurate measurement as it relates to supplementary and complementary fit is discussed and recommendations are offered regarding the necessity of its use. A distinction is made between the direct measurement of perceived fit and the indirect measurement of actual person-organization fit, using both cross- and individual-level techniques, and the debate regarding differences scores is reviewed. These definitional and measurement issues frame a review of the existing literature, as well as provide the basis for specific research propositions and suggestions for managerial applications.
Readers who want a less mathematical alternative to the EQS manual will find exactly what they're looking for in this practical text. Written specifically for those with little to no knowledge of structural equation modeling (SEM) or EQS, the author's goal is to provide a non-mathematical introduction to the basic concepts of SEM by applying these principles to EQS, Version 6.1. The book clearly demonstrates a wide variety of SEM/EQS applications that include confirmatory factor analytic and full latent variable models.
This prospective study applied self-determination theory to investigate the effects of students' course-specific self-regulation and their perceptions of their instructors' autonomy support on adjustment and academic performance in a college-level organic chemistry course. The study revealed that: (1) students' reports of entering the course for relatively autonomous (vs. controlled) reasons predicted higher perceived competence and interest/enjoyment and lower anxiety and grade-focused performance goals during the course, and were related to whether or not the students dropped the course; and (2) students' perceptions of their instructors' autonomy support predicted increases in autonomous self-regulation, perceived competence, and interest/enjoyment, and decreases in anxiety over the semester. The change in autonomous self-regulation in turn predicted students' performance in the course. Further, instructor autonomy support also predicted course performance directly, although differences in the initial level of students' autonomous self-regulation moderated that effect, with autonomy support relating strongly to academic performance for students initially low in autonomous self-regulation but not for students initially high in autonomous self-regulation. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sci Ed84:740–756, 2000.
Two laboratory studies explored how self-rated unhappy and happy students balance hedonically conflicting social comparison information, and tested whether unhappy students would be relatively more sensitive to hedonically consistent unfavorable information. In both studies, students working in teams of four competed against one other team on a novel verbal task. First, unhappy participants showed relatively greater sensitivity to undiluted unfavorable feedback—about group standing (e.g. your team ‘lost’; Study 1) and about group and individual standing (e.g. your team lost and you were placed last; Study 2). Second, unhappy students were more reactive than happy students to individual social comparison information in the context of relative group feedback. In Study 1, the moods and self-assessments of unhappy individuals (but not happy ones) after news of team defeat appeared to be buffered by the additional news of personal triumph. In Study 2, unhappy students showed relatively larger decreases in mood and ability assessments after unfavorable than after favorable individual feedback (i.e. ranking last versus first), regardless of whether they additionally learned that their teams had won or lost. The role of students' attributions and perceptions of their personal contribution was also explored. Implications of these findings for the links among social comparison, cognitive processes, and hedonic consequences are discussed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The present study investigated theoretically and empirically derived similarities and differences between the constructs of
enduring happiness and self-esteem. Participants (N=621), retired employees ages 51–95, completed standardized measures of affect, personality, psychosocial characteristics,
physical health, and demographics. The relations between each of the two target variables (happiness and self-esteem) and
the full set of remaining variables were assessed through a series of successive statistical analyses: (1) simple Pearson’s
correlations, (2) partial correlations, and (3) hierarchical regression analyses. The results revealed that happiness and
self-esteem, while highly correlated (r=0.58), presented unique patterns of relations with the other measured variables. The best predictors of happiness were
the following: mood and temperamental traits (i.e., extraversion and neuroticism), social relationships (lack of loneliness
and satisfaction with friendships), purpose in life, and global life satisfaction. By contrast, self-esteem was best predicted
by dispositions related to agency and motivation (i.e., optimism and lack of hopelessness). Implications for the understanding
of happiness and self-esteem are discussed.
Based on theoretical considerations drawn from John Dewey and others, and using the Experience Sampling Method to longitudinally investigate a group of talented high school students,undivided interest was operationalized as times when the students felt above average spontaneous interest (i.e., excitement, openness, and involvement) while also reporting above average goal-directed interest (i.e., that their task was important to their goals). Results showed that after adjusting for the effects of family background, scholastic aptitude, and other individual differences, undivided interest while doing talent-related activities was positively correlated with independent assessments of talent area performance three years later: the level of mastery students achieved as indicated by their school records, the ratings students received from their talent area teachers, and the students' assessments of their own level of engagement. Highly engaged students reported over twice as much undivided interest in comparison to a group of disengaged students, who reported more divided interest (i.e., more of what Dewey referred to as fooling—high spontaneous involvement with no goal direction; and more drudgery—low spontaneous involvement and high goal direction). These findings held regardless of whether the teenagers were talented in math, science, music, or art. The implications of the study are discussed in terms of contemporary theories of attention and cognitive development, as well as unproductive educational philosophies that pit these important dimensions of experience against each other.
There is a common perception that Asian students relyupon rote learning and prefer passive forms oflearning, though, this appears to be incompatible withevidence of their high levels of achievement. Thisapparent dichotomy is explained by showing thatmemorisation can occur in conjunction with theintention to understand. It could also result fromstudents learning material by heart because theyperceive that is what the course and assessmentrequire. Evidence from over 90 action researchprojects is used to disprove the common assertionsthat Asian students prefer passive learning and resistteaching innovations. It is argued that motivationdisplayed by Asian students is not well described byconventional definitions in psychology textbooks.Courses which provide good career preparation are asource of motivation but it is not an extrinsic formof motivation which depresses intrinsic motivation.There are high levels of achieving motive, but itfrequently has a collective nature rather than beingindividual and competitive.
Although decades of research have examined relationships between social anxiety and negative outcomes, this study examined relations with indices of positive psychological functioning. In college students (n = 204), a factor analysis on self-report measures of positive psychological functioning derived 3 conceptually meaningful broad domains: Positive Subjective Experiences, Curiosity, and Appetitive Motivations. Analyses were conducted to test whether social interaction anxiety demonstrated unique relationships with positive psychological domains after controlling for shared variance with social observation anxiety (e.g., eating in public, public speaking) and neuroticism. Social interaction anxiety explained unique variance in all 3 domains after separately controlling for social observation anxiety and neuroticism. In contrast, social observation anxiety demonstrated near-zero relationships with all 3 domains, and neuroticism predicted Positive Subjective Experiences, and to a lesser degree, Curiosity. These data provide evidence for the unique association between social interaction anxiety and positive psychological functioning, with implications for future basic and applied research.
This study examined curiosity as a mechanism for achieving and maintaining high levels of well-being and meaning in life.
Of primary interest was whether people high in trait curiosity derive greater well-being on days when they are more curious.
We also tested whether trait and daily curiosity led to greater, sustainable well-being. Predictions were tested using trait
measures and 21 daily diary reports from 97 college students. We found that on days when they are more curious, people high
in trait curiosity reported more frequent growth-oriented behaviors, and greater presence of meaning, search for meaning,
and life satisfaction. Greater trait curiosity and greater curiosity on a given day also predicted greater persistence of
meaning in life from one day into the next. People with greater trait curiosity reported more frequent hedonistic events but
they were associated with less pleasure compared to the experiences of people with less trait curiosity. The benefits of hedonistic
events did not last beyond the day of their occurrence. As evidence of construct specificity, curiosity effects were not attributable
to Big Five personality traits or daily positive or negative mood. Our results provide support for curiosity as an ingredient
in the development of well-being and meaning in life. The pattern of findings casts doubt on some distinctions drawn between
eudaimonia and hedonic well-being traditions.
The major goal of this study was to investigate relationships among levels of 341 secondary school students’ school satisfaction
and various intrapersonal, interpersonal, and academic measures. The measures included the School subscale from the Multidimensional
Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (Huebner, 1994), Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (Huebner, 1991), Children’s Hope Scale (Snyder et al. 1997), Behavioral Assessment System for Children (Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992), self-perceived grade point average (GPA) and participation in extracurricular activities (SEAs). Students were placed into
three groups based on their school satisfaction reports, including very low (lowest 20%), average (middle 30%), and very high
(highest 20%) levels of school satisfaction. Students with very low school satisfaction differed from students with very high
school satisfaction on all adjustment measures; students with very low school satisfaction also differed from students with
average levels of school satisfaction on all measures, except the self-esteem measure. Relative to students reporting average
levels of school satisfaction, students reporting very high satisfaction demonstrated significantly higher scores on measures
of global life satisfaction, hope, internal locus of control, and GPA. Finally, only three students in the very high satisfaction
group and nine students in the average satisfaction group reported clinical levels of psychological symptoms. In the very
low satisfaction group, clinical levels of symptoms were reported by 30%, 22%, and 16% of the students on the Clinical Maladjustment,
Personal Adjustment, and Emotional Symptoms Index, respectively. Implications for future research and educational practices
are discussed.
There are few topics so fascinating both to the research investigator and the research subject as the self-image. It is distinctively characteristic of the human animal that he is able to stand outside himself and to describe, judge, and evaluate the person he is. He is at once the observer and the observed, the judge and the judged, the evaluator and the evaluated. Since the self is probably the most important thing in the world to him, the question of what he is like and how he feels about himself engrosses him deeply. This is especially true during the adolescent stage of development.