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The Five-Dimensional Curiosity Scale Revised (5DCR): Briefer subscales while separating overt and covert social curiosity
Abstract
Curiosity is a fundamental human motivation that influences learning, the acquisition of knowledge, and life fulfillment. Our ability to understand the benefits (and costs) of being a curious person hinges on adequate assessment. Synthesizing decades of prior research, our goal was to improve a well-validated, multi-dimensional measure of curiosity (Kashdan et al., 2018). First, we sought to distinguish between two types of social curiosity: the overt desire to learn from other people versus covert, surreptitious interest in what other people say and do. Second, we sought to remove weaker items and reduce the length of each subscale. Using data from a survey of 483 working adults (Study 1) and 460 community adults (Study 2), we found evidence to support the pre-existing four dimensions of curiosity (Joyous Exploration, Deprivation Sensitivity, Stress Tolerance, and Thrill Seeking) along with the separation of the fifth dimension into Overt Social Curiosity and Covert Social Curiosity. Each factor of the Five-Dimensional Curiosity Scale Revised (5DCR) had substantive relations with a battery of personality (e.g., Big Five, intellectual humility) and well-being (e.g., psychological need satisfaction) measures. With greater bandwidth and predictive power, the 5DCR offers new opportunities for basic research and the evaluation of curiosity enhancing interventions.
... Building on these findings, Experiment 2 sought to replicate the results of Experiment 1 and expanded our investigation to explore how curiosity and exploration influence cognitive map formation. Critically, we expected that higher states of curiosity and more active exploration would translate into the formation of more accurate and detailed cognitive maps of environments, as revealed through higher fidelity map drawings in the memory test of Experiment 2. Furthermore, the larger sample size in Experiment 2 enabled us to explore the influence of individual differences in trait curiosity on curiosity-based exploration 35 . ...
... In Experiment 2, participants commenced with the Five-Dimensional Curiosity Revised scale (5DCR) 35 prior to the familiarisation phase. The exploration phase closely followed the familiarisation phase, where participants had to explore all 16 rooms in a randomised order with no specific time limit imposed for each room. ...
... Therefore, we next explored whether the observed positive relationship between state curiosity and spatial exploration could be driven by individual differences in trait curiosity. In Experiment 2, participants were administered the Five-Dimensional Curiosity Revised (5DCR) scale 35 and we focused on the effects of the four subscales that are related to curiosity-induced exploration of novel environments -Joyous Exploration, Deprivation Sensitivity, Stress Tolerance and Thrill Seeking. These subscales' scores, along with their interaction with pre-room curiosity, were incorporated into our Bayesian multilevel model. ...
Cognitive maps are thought to arise, at least in part, from our intrinsic curiosity to explore unknown places. However, it remains untested how curiosity shapes aspects of spatial exploration in humans. Combining a virtual reality task with indices of exploration complexity, we found that pre-exploration curiosity states predicted how much individuals spatially explored environments, whereas markers of visual exploration determined post-exploration feelings of interest. Moreover, individual differences in curiosity traits, particularly Stress Tolerance, modulated the relationship between curiosity and spatial exploration, suggesting the capacity to cope with uncertainty enhances the curiosity-exploration link. Furthermore, both curiosity and spatial exploration predicted how precisely participants could recall spatial-relational details of the environment, as measured by a sketch map task. These results provide new evidence for a link between curiosity and exploratory behaviour, and how curiosity might shape cognitive map formation.
... Epistemic curiosity, one of the IC components [12], was conceptualized and empirically validated as being composed of two dimensions-joyous exploration (or interest) and deprivation sensitivity [13,14]. Social curiosity, comprising overt and covert components [15], refers to the interest in learning from and about people and in gossiping about or prying into people, respectively [16][17][18]. Empathic curiosity (interest in helping people) is yet another component of interpersonal curiosity, which is highly relevant in the helping professions [19]. ...
... The content analysis (CA) method [50] was employed to analyze the data. Specifically, the directed approach to CA [51] was adopted using the five-dimensional curiosity framework [15] as guidance for initial codes. ...
... Social curiosity reflects the desire to learn about people's lives, cultural habits, typical cuisine, interests, education, occupations, and more [13] and gossip about and pry and snoop into people's lives [15,16]. Subsumed under social curiosity are interpersonal [21] and intrapersonal [17] curiosity. ...
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 50 renowned experts from five curiosity-dominant professional fields (scientists, inventors (high-tech entrepreneurs), artists, explorers, and therapeutic professionals). The five-dimensional curiosity framework proposed by Kashdan and colleagues (comprising joyous discovery, deprivation sensitivity, social curiosity, stress (uncertainty) tolerance, and thrill-seeking) was adopted. The purpose was to explore nuances of curiosity manifestations expressed by the subjects in their own words and related personality and contextual attributes. A directed approach to content analysis was applied to code the interview data; qualitative methods were employed for data analysis, complemented by quantitative ones. Insights gained from the findings regarding the curiosity construct, focusing on differences among the groups in regard to aspects of social curiosity and effects of uncertainty tolerance and thrill-thinking, were discussed, followed by implications for cultivating curious minds.
... Epistemic curiosity, one of the IC components [12], was conceptualized and empirically validated as being composed of two dimensions-joyous exploration (or interest) and deprivation sensitivity [13,14]. Social curiosity, comprising overt and covert components [15], refers to the interest in learning from and about people and in gossiping about or prying into people, respectively [16][17][18]. Empathic curiosity (interest in helping people) is yet another component of interpersonal curiosity, which is highly relevant in the helping professions [19]. ...
... The content analysis (CA) method [50] was employed to analyze the data. Specifically, the directed approach to CA [51] was adopted using the five-dimensional curiosity framework [15] as guidance for initial codes. ...
... Social curiosity reflects the desire to learn about people's lives, cultural habits, typical cuisine, interests, education, occupations, and more [13] and gossip about and pry and snoop into people's lives [15,16]. Subsumed under social curiosity are interpersonal [21] and intrapersonal [17] curiosity. ...
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 50 renowned experts from five curiosity-dominant professional fields (scientists, inventors (high-tech entrepreneurs), artists, explorers, and therapeutic professionals). The five-dimensional curiosity framework proposed by Kashdan and colleagues (comprising joyous discovery, deprivation sensitivity, social curiosity, stress (uncertainty) tolerance, and thrill-seeking) was adopted. The purpose was to explore nuances of curiosity manifes-tations expressed by the subjects in their own words and related personality and contextual attributes. A directed approach to content analysis was applied to code the interview data; qualitative methods were employed for data analysis, complemented by quantitative ones. Insights gained from the findings regarding the curiosity construct, focusing on differences among the groups in regard to aspects of social curiosity and effects of uncertainty tolerance and thrill-thinking, were discussed, followed by implications for cultivating curious minds.
Citation:: Birenbaum, M., Nasser-Abu Alhija, F., Shilton, H., Kimron, H., Shahor, N., & Rosanski, R. (2024). Characteristics of curious minds: Evidence from interviews with renowned Experts in five curiosity-dominant fields. Education Sciences, 14, 1111. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/educsci14101111.
... Through self-directed behavior, curiosity propels the pursuit of information, experiences, and actions for their own sake. Those with higher curiosity often feel more uncomfortable not knowing something they need to progress (Kashdan et al., 2020a(Kashdan et al., , 2020b. Their heightened deprivation sensitivity further amplifies motivation to expand knowledge or skills and find resolutions. ...
... Unlike trait curiosity, state curiosity emerges in response to specific situations and reflects a transient desire to acquire new information or experiences (Litman, 2005). This dynamic can lead to different outcomes in various contexts, such as novel tasks, where state curiosity might influence engagement and appraisal differently than trait curiosity (Kashdan et al., 2020a(Kashdan et al., , 2020b. For instance, while trait curiosity might provide a baseline readiness to explore, state curiosity determines the actual level of engagement and interest in an imminent task. ...
... Novel tasks with uncertain outcomes can spark curiosity and foster an exploratory focus, sometimes leading to risky behavior (Jovanović & Gavrilov-Jerković, 2014;Kashdan et al., 2020aKashdan et al., , 2020b. For those who inherently crave new knowledge and experience, satisfying curiosity can be rewarding, even when faced with threat or failure. ...
Research has shown that curiosity plays a crucial role in human performance and well-being. Based on multi-dimensional models of curiosity, we examined potential underlying mechanisms for this relationship. Extending prior research, we expected state and trait variants of curiosity to predict more challenge and less threat appraisals for novel tasks (i.e., joyous exploration dimension), stronger dissatisfaction when denied opportunities to do something interesting (i.e., deprivation sensitivity dimension), and persist longer under stress states (i.e., stress tolerance). We asked 123 participants to prepare and deliver a speech titled "Why are you a good friend?" After preparation, participants were informed that they were randomly selected not to perform the task. Throughout the experiment, we recorded heart rate reactivity as a physiological indicator of task engagement. We found that individuals curious about the upcoming task felt more challenged, less threatened, and presented longer physiological engagement than less curious individuals. Curious individuals expressed more disappointment about the missed opportunity to deliver the speech. In summary, this study revealed theoretically derived mechanisms that partially account for associations between curiosity and positive life outcomes while also indicating adverse effects.
... Epistemic curiosity, one of the IC components [12], was conceptualized and empirically validated as being composed of two dimensions-joyous exploration (or interest) and deprivation sensitivity [13,14]. Social curiosity, comprising overt and covert components [15], refers to the interest in learning from and about people and in gossiping about or prying into people, respectively [16][17][18]. Empathic curiosity (interest in helping people) is yet another component of interpersonal curiosity, which is highly relevant in the helping professions [19]. ...
... The content analysis (CA) method [50] was employed to analyze the data. Specifically, the directed approach to CA [51] was adopted using the five-dimensional curiosity framework [15] as guidance for initial codes. ...
... Social curiosity reflects the desire to learn about people's lives, cultural habits, typical cuisine, interests, education, occupations, and more [13] and gossip about and pry and snoop into people's lives [15,16]. Subsumed under social curiosity are interpersonal [21] and intrapersonal [17] curiosity. ...
This book focuses on the effects of student characteristics and school variables on the mathematics achievement of 8th-grade students in Israel. The research reported in this book was based on data from the TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) 2007 examination. A two-level model was used to examine the effects of student and school variables on mathematics achievement at the individual and institutional levels. The findings have important implications for teachers, schools, and government. Teachers should work to strengthen students' self-efficacy beliefs because it seems that high self-efficacy mitigates the negative effect of SES. That is, students who believe they can succeed reach higher levels of achievement regardless of their SES backgrounds. Furthermore, findings of reported research show that high teacher expectations, especially for the low SES group students, make a difference. At the school and governmental levels, SES (socio-economic status) and type of school (Jewish vs. Arab) continue to be the greatest determinants of success.
... Five-Dimensional Curiosity Scale Revised (5DCR). The 5DCR is a 24-item measure anchored on a 7-point Likert scale from 1 (does not describe me at all) to 7 (completely describes me) that captures various dimensions of curiosity (Kashdan et al., 2020). Curiosity is typified by a desire to seek novel information and experiences (Kashdan et al., 2020) and a driver for exploratory behaviors (Fath et al., 2022). ...
... The 5DCR is a 24-item measure anchored on a 7-point Likert scale from 1 (does not describe me at all) to 7 (completely describes me) that captures various dimensions of curiosity (Kashdan et al., 2020). Curiosity is typified by a desire to seek novel information and experiences (Kashdan et al., 2020) and a driver for exploratory behaviors (Fath et al., 2022). The scale includes the following dimensions of curiosity. ...
... The findings of this study also showed the importance of distinguishing between the two types of social curiosity (Kashdan et al., 2020). Overtly socially curious people were largely interested in online audiovisual media services for eudaimonic purposes. ...
People have access to varied entertainment choices through online audiovisual media. Uses and Gratification Theory postulates viewers as active participants in their entertainment selection who watch media for a variety of reasons. Both hedonic and eudaimonic motivations drive user engagement. This paper focuses on how users’ implicit psychological factors (e.g., curiosity, need for affect) influence their motivations for watching online audiovisual media (n = 339). We employed multiple regression to examine predictors of eudaimonic and hedonic motivations alongside information, social interaction, and entertainment uses. The results indicate (1) people's awareness of AI recommender systems does not influence their media engagement, (2) people's need for affect underlies all types of media engagement, and (3) the effect of people's curiosity on their media engagement motivations were dimension-specific (i.e., dependent on the subtype). Our findings are in line with entertainment gratification models and reveal curiosity's unique role in people's motivations for audiovisual entertainment.
... In particular, Joyful Exploration is characterized by a passion for learning, an enthusiastic attitude towards the activity being performed, and a high level of well-being. Conversely, Deprivation Sensitivity occurs in conditions of lack of information, is accompanied by discomfort and irritation, and is designated as "aversive avoidance motivation" (Kashdan et al., 2018(Kashdan et al., , 2020. Stress Tolerance is represented by a dispositional tendency to overcome the anxiety that arises in a situation of novelty. ...
... Thrill Seeking is defined as the excitement that makes an event special. Social Curiosity is expressed as an interest in other people (Kashdan et al., 2018(Kashdan et al., , 2020. More recently, this scale has been improved (Five-Dimensional Curiosity Scale Revised (5DCR). ...
... More recently, this scale has been improved (Five-Dimensional Curiosity Scale Revised (5DCR). In particular, the aspect of social curiosity is divided into two components: Overt Social Curiosity (motivation to understand other people) and Covert Social Curiosity (searching for details about other people in hidden ways) (Kashdan et al., 2020). Thus, more recent work conceptualizes curiosity as "recognition, pursuit, and desire to explore novel, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous events (Kashdan et al., 2018, p. 130). ...
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.
... Recent psychological studies show that social curiosity is another important aspect of curiosity stimulation that must be considered [25]. It refers to the interest in obtaining new social information through exploratory behavior [26]. ...
... It refers to the interest in obtaining new social information through exploratory behavior [26]. Kashdan et al. [25] identify two types of social curiosity: overt social curiosity and covert social curiosity. Overt social curiosity relates to understanding how people think, behave, and act, while covert social curiosity refers to secretly and indirectly observing people, such as through gossip. ...
Social curiosity plays a pivotal role in driving information dissemination on social media platforms, influencing both individual behaviors and group dynamics. While its impact has been explored in platforms like WhatsApp, the mechanisms behind social curiosity remain underexamined, particularly in Telegram, a platform known for its unique user interactions and pivotal role in political mobilizations. Addressing this gap, this study examines the influence of social curiosity during the 2022 Brazilian elections, a period marked by significant political and social unrest. By analyzing almost 5 million messages across 137K users in public Telegram groups, we identify distinct curiosity stimulation profiles, dynamic transitions in user behaviors, and the varying influence of groups in amplifying curiosity. Our results highlight the profound role of social curiosity in shaping information flow and its strong connection to appealing and politically relevant topics. These findings underscore the societal implications of social curiosity, especially in high-stakes contexts where misinformation and political narratives can significantly influence public opinion and behavior.
... Also, emotionally intelligent individuals want to engage in life-bettering activities because they perceive themselves to be socially integrated and approved (Mohanty et al., 2015). The literature proved that curious persons are more optimistic, have a strong sense of autonomy, and are resilient in following their self-development purposes (Kashdan, 2013;Kashdan, 2020). They are also more open in exploring their emotions, needs and their and others' innermost wishes (Kashdan et al., 2020). ...
... The literature proved that curious persons are more optimistic, have a strong sense of autonomy, and are resilient in following their self-development purposes (Kashdan, 2013;Kashdan, 2020). They are also more open in exploring their emotions, needs and their and others' innermost wishes (Kashdan et al., 2020). ...
The study aims to examine the psychometric properties of the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS) in a sample of students (N=910; 510 males and 400 females) from various Romanian universities. The construct validity was investigated through the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and the multigroup-CFA. The scale was associated with instruments that measure the psychological state of well-being (Short psychological well-being) and curiosity (Curiosity and Exploration Inventory-II). The WLEIS reliability was calculated by using McDonald’s omega and Cronbach’s alpha coefficients. The result supports the scale’s 4-factor structure in accordance to the original model. Configural, metric, scalar and strict gender invariance were achieved. Internal consistency coefficients proved to be excellent across all 4 subscales and for the emotional intelligence global index. The instrument showcases significant positive correlations with psychological well-being, curiosity, and all of the two variable’s dimensions. WLEIS illustrates robust psychometric properties capable of evaluating the students’ emotional intelligence.
... The items for communal experience constructs were sourced from, peer-to-peer interaction (Kidd et al., 2006), networking (Wolff & Moser, 2006;Wolff & Spurk, 2020), and social capital (Chiu et al., 2006). The measures for individual experience constructs were sourced from enjoyment (Tsai & Pai, 2013), curiosity (Kashdan et al., 2020), and personal growth (Robitschek et al., 2012). Perceived value was measured using adapted items from (Petrick, 2002). ...
... I seek out information about the private lives of people in my life. (Kashdan et al., 2020) Personal Growth I take every opportunity to grow as it comes up. I figure out what I need to change about myself. ...
Numerous educational institutions employ career events (CEs) to enhance students' overall learning experiences, but further research is required to optimize these events. Utilizing activity theory, this study seeks to systematically investigate the interplay between collective and individual factors that shape students' experiences during CEs. 463 survey respondents with recent and significant networking CE exposure participated in the study. The results confirm the proposed research model, indicating that the student experience construct comprises a multi-dimensional framework of second-order components, including individual and peer experiences, each encompassing a set of first-order constructs. The results also validate that students' experiences can predict subsequent perceived value and satisfaction evaluations. The study's limitations, research, and practical implications for crafting meaningful and fulfilling experiences for CE attendees are discussed.
... While scientific research on curiosity in particular is scarce, it has received attention as part of the Big Five personality framework, particularly the Openness to Experience factor, which reflects the constant pursuit of new experiences and ideas (McCrae & Greenberg, 2014). To encourage further research on curiosity, Kashdan et al. (2020) introduced the Five-Dimensional Curiosity Scale Revised (5DCR) with the dimensions: Joyful Exploration, Deprivation Sensitivity, Stress Tolerance, Overt Social Curiosity, Covert Social Curiosity, and Thrill Seeking. They report meaningful associations of the dimensions with other constructs, such as the Big Five, often also measured by self-report. ...
... but since it is not the primary focus of the study, it is still included. Curiosity was then measured using the 24-item Six-Dimensional Curiosity Scale Revised (5DCR; Kashdan et al. (2020)), which includes six 4-item subscales: Joyful Exploration, Deprivation Sensitivity, Stress Tolerance, Thrill Seeking, and Overt and Covert Social Curiosity. Participants responded to each item using a 7-point Likert scale. ...
Curiosity is critical to innovation and economic progress. Kashdan et al. (2020) developed the Five-Dimensional Curiosity Scale Revised (5DCR), which includes dimensions such as Joyful Exploration and Thrill Seeking. We advance this research by examining the relationship between these curiosity dimensions and real-world information-seeking behaviors, specifically in entrepreneurial contexts. Through a survey combined with a field study, it was found that dimensions of curiosity characterize different types of information seeking, with some dimensions even reducing extensive pre-action information seeking, but rather learning-by-doing, a common trait among entrepreneurs. This study highlights the multifaceted nature of curiosity and its different effects on behavior, suggesting that entrepreneurs prefer learning through action to pre-action information search.
... Em um trabalho pioneiro da psicologia, Berlyne [1] argumenta que a curiosidade é governada por estímulos externos e seu processo de estimulação é complexo pois é constituído de vários aspectos que são chamados de variáveis colativas, as quais são novidade, incerteza, conflito e diversidade. Estudos modernos da psicologia têm argumentado que a curiosidade social é um outro aspecto do estímulo de curiosidade que precisa ser considerado [3]. Assim, a curiosidade social é o interesse em obter novas informações sociais (e.g., como as pessoas pensam, se comportam e agem) e é essencial para a criação de redes sociais e relacionamentos [3]. ...
... Estudos modernos da psicologia têm argumentado que a curiosidade social é um outro aspecto do estímulo de curiosidade que precisa ser considerado [3]. Assim, a curiosidade social é o interesse em obter novas informações sociais (e.g., como as pessoas pensam, se comportam e agem) e é essencial para a criação de redes sociais e relacionamentos [3]. Por fim, o nível adequado de um estímulo provoca uma reação curiosa em uma pessoa, assim surge um modelo conceitual chamado curva de Wundt que representa o nível ótimo de estimulação [1]. ...
Social curiosity plays a key role in the process of information dissemination on online social media platforms such as Telegram. Understanding the mechanisms that influence this process, especially in times of political unrest such as the Brazilian elections of 2022, is crucial. Recent studies have shown that curiosity is an important factor influencing user behavior when sharing information on online social media platforms. However, there are few studies that measure curiosity on these platforms, and none of them look at Telegram groups. The present study aims to fill this gap by investigating social curiosity in Telegram groups. The aim is to analyze how social curiosity affects user behavior, information sharing and understand the role of groups in stimulating social curiosity.
... Compared to other categories of curiosity, JE had the highest correlation with the concept that a successful life is rooted in selfimprovement, helping others, and social values (Kashdan et al., 2018). JE is also often mentioned as a contributor to an entrepreneurial attitude among individuals Entrepreneurship Education (Kashdan et al., 2020;Syed et al., 2020;Zappe, 2018). Children with advanced levels of JE are expected to excel in kindergarten reading and mathematics (Shah et al., 2018). ...
... Although there has been some research on the relationship between academic effectiveness and JE, the background of these studies is largely focused on culture, and there is a scarcity of studies that examine the relationship between JE and ASE or SEV. JE is also often mentioned as a contributor to an entrepreneurial attitude among individuals (Kashdan et al., 2020;Syed et al., 2020;Zappe, 2018). Children with advanced levels of JE are expected to excel in kindergarten reading and mathematics (Shah et al., 2018). ...
Intrinsic motivational factors (IMFs) such as growth mindset (GM), passion, grit, and joyous exploration (JE) are key aspects that can play significant roles in the academic success of students. However, it is unclear how IMFs relate to academic self-efficacy (ASE) and social entrepreneurship value (SEV), and there is a lack of evidence demonstrating that gifted students have specific educational needs based on their intrinsic motivation, social drive, and self-efficacy. This study investigated the relationships of GM, passion, grit, and JE with SEV and ASE in gifted and non-gifted students. Quantitative and qualitative studies were conducted to develop a comprehensive understanding of the topic. The structural equation model analysis of students’ responses showed that IMFs were positively correlated with ASE and SEV. However, these correlations were not dependent on giftedness status. These findings will be useful in developing policies that appropriately cater to the learning needs of non-gifted and gifted students.
... Curiosity is normative in human development, and all human creatures possess a bit of curiosity for exploring their environment and seeking knowledge when the need arises. In their view, Kashdan et al. [13] defined curiosity as the urge to seek information and experiences for one's personal reasons based on one's personal drive or personalised process (self-directed behaviour). According to Kashdan et al. [14,15] , curiosity is an integral human incentive that predicts knowledge acquisition, learning, and the fulfilment of life's demands. ...
... We adapted three sets of latent scales on curiosity, creativity, and academic motivation. With the curiosity scale, 5-Dimensions of Curiosity Revised (5DCR; 25 items) of Kashdan et al. [13] was used. The scale had five sub-scales with sample statements like, "I view challenging situations as an opportunity to grow and learn; I cannot handle the stress that comes from entering uncertain situations". ...
The debate about differences in intellectual abilities is far from over. This debate has astronomically drifted from academic success to mental possessions. In this regard, the current study examined curiosity, creativity, and academic motivation in students for possible differences in terms of gender. A total of 568 high school students were surveyed using a cross-sectional design. The data were gathered using adapted curiosity, creativity, and academic motivation scales to test for possible differences. Male and female students had similar abilities in curious, creative, and motivated potentials, according to the test MANOVA results [F (3,549) = 0.718, p > 0.610; Wilks’ Lambda = 0.993, partial eta squared = 0.007]. This could be the result of similar opportunities presented to both male and female students in their academic journey. Therefore, educational policies on gender parity should be developed to help tone down unnecessary comparisons and mental competition between male and female students in the areas of curiosity, creativity, and academic motivation.
... The current study treats curiosity as a multidimensional construct, following the conceptualization of colleagues (2018, 2020). The included dimensions are epistemic curiosity (interest and desire to explore the world and a sense of deprivation in the absence of relevant information (conceptualized by Litman, 2019, as the I (interest) and D (deprivation) dimensions); social curiosity (SC) (which Kashdan et al., 2020, divide into general-overt SC, referring to interest in learning with and about people, and covert SC, referring to gossiping and prying. Two other SC components often mentioned are empathy (Halpern, 2014) and intrapersonal curiosity (Litman, 2019). ...
... 2.2.1.2. The 5-DCR questionnaire (Kashdan et al., 2020) measured five dimensions of curiosity: Joyous exploration (JE) (The pleasurable experience of finding the world fascinating); Deprivation sensitivity (DS) (The anxiety and discomfort experienced until resolving the information gaps); Stress tolerance (ST) (The dispositional tendency to tolerate the stress and uncertainty that arise when confronting the new), Social curiosity (SC) (consisting of two sub-scales: General-overt SC (an interest in other people's behaviors, thoughts, and feelings) and Covert SC (discovering details regarding other people by indirect, surreptitious, and secretive ways), and Thrill seeking (TS) (The willingness to accept various kinds of risks to acquire new experiences.) The questionnaire comprises 24 items (four items per scale) measured on a 7-point Likert scale (1 = Does not describe me at all, 2 = Barely describes me, 3 = Seldom describes me, 4 = Somewhat describes me, 5 = Generally describes me, 6 = Mostly describes me, and 7 = Completely describes me). ...
Abstract:
The study examined the relationships between perceived quality of life (QoL), well-being (WB), and curiosity of older adults. An occasional sample of 199 subjects answered the CASP12 questionnaire (measuring QoL), the 5-DCR Scale (measuring curiosity), and a brief demographic questionnaire (referring to gender, age, marital status, and continued interest in the profession.) The qualitative layer consisted of twenty in-depth, semi-structured interviews with curious older persons. Findings of the quantitative layer pointed to a substantial association between curiosity and QoL, underscoring the direct and indirect (through curiosity) effects of the demographic factors on QoL, particularly the mediating effect of curiosity on the relationships between continued interest in the profession and QoL. The impact of curiosity, love of learning, and personal attributes on WB were highlighted in the qualitative layer. Implications for cultivating a growth mindset focusing on curiosity across the lifespan and publicizing their role in fostering adaptive aging were discussed.
... Two personality traits that are conceptually closely related to intellect are need for cognition and curiosity. While need for cognition is defined as the tendency to engage in and enjoy cognitive processes (Cacioppo & Petty, 1982), curiosity is defined as the desire to know and experience, motivating behavior related to the acquisition of new knowledge (Kashdan et al., 2020). Theoretically, individuals with a high need for cognition are more likely to be creative, as situations that require creativity are often ambiguous and require more cognitive effort to be solved (He et al., 2019). ...
... The official short version (correlation with long version r = 0.93; α Cronbach = 0.89) of this test measures the performance in higher-order mathematics and covers the topics fractions, conversion of units, exponentiation, division with decimals, algebra, geometry, roots, and logarithm. Kashdan et al., 2020). The five dimensions are Joyous Exploration, Deprivation Sensitivity, Stress Tolerance, Thrill Seeking and Overt Social Curiosity/Covert Social Curiosity. ...
... Attitude towards IVAs was assessed using three items from Hsu and Lin [113] (α = 0.92; e.g.,"Overall, my attitude towards voice assistants is positive."). To examine the impact of the training modules on exploration, the Joyous Exploration scale by Kashdan, Disabato [114] was used (four items, test-retest reliability = 0.77; e.g.,"I find it fascinating to learn new information."). ...
Intelligent Voice Assistants (IVAs) have become integral to many users' daily lives, using advanced algorithms to automate various tasks. Nevertheless, many users do not understand the underlying algorithms and how they work, posing potential risks to the competent and self-determined use of IVAs. This work develops three online training modules to promote algorithm awareness, providing (1) basic knowledge of algorithms, (2) risks posed by algorithms in IVAs, and (3) scientific evidence on algorithm aversion. A total of 110 participants were studied to analyze the training effects on various perception levels relevant to IVAs, including usage perception (attitude, exploration), privacy aspects (trustworthiness, privacy control), persuasion aspects (persuasion knowledge, anthropomorphic perception), and self-determined interaction variables (reflection, indulgence). The results show that the modules increase awareness of IVA algorithms, influence user perceptions (e.g., higher exploration intentions), and promote critical engagement with IVAs (e.g., lower trustworthiness). Moreover, the modules contribute to a higher sense of privacy control, reduce persuasive perceptions of IVAs (e.g., anthropomorphic perception), and promote self-determined interaction (e.g., higher indulgent use). The modules offer a new approach to promoting the competent use of IVAs in society and provide a starting point for further research and educational institutions to increase algorithm awareness for IVAs and other AI-based systems.
... Big-Five Inventory 2 Soto & John, 2017) and regarding the three facets of intellectual curiosity (four items), aesthetic sensitivity (four items), and creative imagination (four items); 2. Eight items forming the first two subscales of the Five-Dimensional Curiosity Scale Revised (Kashdan et al., 2020) that capture two distinct aspects of curiosity. The subscale joyous exploration refers to the pleasurable experience of finding the world intriguing (four items). ...
Modern and contemporary art can be challenging for the general observer. We investigated whether aesthetic appreciation of modern and contemporary artworks can be enhanced through two types of intervention. The first, a traditional approach, provided information related to art history (historical intervention [HI]). The second, novel intervention, encouraged participants to observe the creative elements in the artworks by “thinking in terms of opposites” (cognitive intervention [CI]). We included a baseline condition with no additional information (no intervention [NI]). An online questionnaire was completed by 279 Italian adults. It began with 35 items measuring openness, curiosity, familiarity, and interest in art. Participants were presented with 15 artworks and randomly assigned to one of the three conditions: HI, CI, or NI. Six questions were then asked to assess the level of appreciation and interest in the artworks. Four final questions evaluated the participants’ overall experience. HI and CI interventions were associated with improved interest and greater feelings of overall enrichment and mastery (“I now feel more capable of appreciating this kind of artwork”). Participants also reported feeling less boredom in these conditions compared to the NI condition. Interestingly, the participants’ personality traits moderated responses in the HI and NI conditions but not in the CI condition. Thus, the innovative and more cognitive perspective (CI) generally produced more consistent effects.
... We adapted four items from Kashdan et al. (2020) to measure coworker overt social curiosity. A sample item read: "My coworker asks a lot of questions to figure out what interests other employees." ...
Although the research literature on employees’ privacy management has grown noticeably over recent years, much of this research tends to focus on how organizations’ use of technology to monitor and manage the performance of employees might violate workers’ perceived privacy rights and privileges. While formal programs and policies such as the use of certain technologies can cause privacy concerns for workers, threats to employees’ privacy may also stem from informal communication between employees. To date, however, practically no research has directly examined whether and which aspects of informal communication between employees might be viewed as threats to employees’ privacy boundaries. Accordingly, the present research sought to stimulate further scientific exploration into this topic by providing researchers with a valid tool to examine an interesting, yet unexplored phenomenon in the organizational sciences: workplace nosiness. Workplace nosiness refers to employees’ intrusive attempts to obtain private information from others at work. Findings across four studies suggest that workplace nosiness is a relatively common experience for employees and is a multidimensional construct, and that perceptions of workplace nosiness can result from individual differences, interpersonal factors, and features of the broader work context and are related to a variety of adverse affective and behavioral outcomes for employees. We provide several suggestions for future research to further extend the nomological network of workplace nosiness.
... To examine the effect of the training modules on exploration, the Joyous Exploration subscale from Kashdan et al. (2020) was used (4 items, e.g., "I find it fascinating to learn new information.", α = .77). ...
... Examples of emotional curiosity include wanting to know more about someone's feelings and thoughts (Kashdan et al., 2011), asking questions about life experiences or trying to understand their point of view (Friedman, 2017). When you feel comfortable and relaxed in a social setting, this state of curiosity is particularly pleasurable because it promotes the release of high levels of dopamine (Kashdan et al., 2020). ...
Dünya hızla değişmeye devam ederken, merak, başarı için giderek daha önemli bir beceri haline geliyor. Merak; yeniliği, yaratıcılığı ve problem çözmeyi beslediğinden, öğrencilerin geliştirmesi gereken temel bir beceri olması gerekiyor. Bu nedenle, eğitim sistemleri, öğretmenler öğrencilerde merak duygusunu beslemeye öncelik vermelidir, özellikle de keşfetme ve araştırma için sonsuz fırsatların olduğu teknoloji odaklı bir dünyada. Bu makalede, merakın ne olduğu, neden önemli olduğu, meraka dair bilinmeyenler, merak türleri, sinirbilim açısından merak ayrıca eğitim, öğrenme ve merak ilişkisi irdelenecektir. Umulur ki bu çalışma gerekli ilgiyi uyandırır ve merak konusunda yapılacak çalışmalara ilham kaynağı olur.
... This suggests that IH can be leveraged and/or fostered through interventions to reduce affective and ideological polarization and improve or sustain individual well-being (e.g., [34]). Increasing IH has been found to provide additional benefits to individuals, such as earning more trust and respect, making better decisions, having more satisfying relationships with friends and family, being better liked, being viewed as more attractive, and being happier in relationships (e.g., [35][36][37]). ...
Definition
Intellectual humility (IH), defined as the extent to which one is aware of one’s own intellectual limitations, is an understudied construct in organizational research. As a moral virtue, IH has been studied in philosophy and religion for decades. As a psychological and behavioral tendency construct, IH has gained significant attention among psychology researchers over the past decade due to rising extremism regarding social and political issues in the US and around the world. One reason for the increased research interest in IH includes the potential benefits from IH in terms of reducing social and political polarization and reducing stress and anxiety, which may improve individual overall well-being. This article provides an overview of IH as a multi-dimensional construct, its psychometric properties and nomological network, and its potential benefits in organizations and employee well-being. The article concludes with a call for more interdisciplinary research on improving our knowledge and theories of IH as well as its construct measurement considering the recent coming-of-age adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) models to harness the power of IH in sustaining individual well-being.
... Curiosity is conceptualized as recognizing the new and grasping the sense it has to offer (Kashdan 2013). Curiosity motivates risk-assuming behavior and helps extracting and assimilating knowledge and meaning from new experiences (Kashdan 2013;Kashdan et al. 2020). Studies on curiosity and entrepreneurship are relatively rare, as there is no ample proof of the role of curiosity in entrepreneurship (Heinemann et al. 2022). ...
This study analyzes the entrepreneurial intention of Romanian engineering students. We had a sample of 700 students (mean age = 23.14; SD = 2.92; 378 males and 322 females) who belonged to three technical universities and completed an online survey between October and December 2023. This research extends the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to explore the factors influencing students’ entrepreneurial intentions. In addition to base TPB components, such as attitude, normative and perceived behavioral control factors, we considered curiosity and well-being. Three structural equation models were used, one after the other, through the method of partial least squares (PLS-EM). The results show that attitude, perceived control behavior and curiosity have a positive impact on entrepreneurial intention, whereas subjectivenorms, surprisingly, have a negative impact on it. Psychological well-being expressed through autonomy is not associated with entrepreneurial intention in our sample of students. This article contributes to a better understanding of entrepreneurial intention in engineering students.
... Kolb (2020) Making connection as critical moves in negotiation. ...
Interpersonal curiosity (IPC), or the desire for information about others, is a core component of human connection, belonging, security, survival, and flourishing. Current research on leveraging IPC is scarce, making it an overlooked mechanism for building safer relational spaces. This narrative literature review attempts to answer the following questions: how can IPC facilitate safe relational spaces? How can this knowledge be made accessible and actionable for readers working in relational fields or public health? Results from the analysis of 23 articles indicate that IPC can manifest as either a trait or a state. At best, IPC can be a powerful tool for connection. At worst, IPC can lead to non-prosocial behaviors and relational disruptions. Suggestions are provided to harness the potential of IPC to foster quality connection and safer relational spaces.
... When designing a measurement scale, the number and type of response categories were carefully considered, as they may inf luence the psychometric data quality. Inspired by Kashdan et al. (2020) and following standards in our field, a 7-point Likertscale to indicate 'the degree to which these statements accurately describe you or not' was chosen and successfully pilot tested for comprehension and sensitivity. It offers a high granularity inviting respondents to make less polarized choices (Simms et al., 2019) and allows participants to adopt a neutral position. ...
To design user-centered services, it is essential to build empathy toward users. It is hence strategic to trigger empathy for users among professionals concerned with shaping service user experiences. There is, however, a lack of quantitative tools to measure empathy in design. Through two studies, we report on the development and validation of the Empathy in Design Scale (EMPA-D). The tool aims to measure service employees’ empathy toward users. Grounded in theories from psychology and design, we first generated and tested a pool of items through expert inspection and cognitive interviews. In Study 1, we administered 16 items to 406 full-time service employees from various industries, including employees in customer-facing positions. In Study 2, we iterated on additional items and administered a revised scale to 305 service employees. The selected model consists of 11 items and has a three-factor structure (Emotional interest/Perspective-taking, Personal experience and Self-awareness), which showed an adequate model fit and good internal consistency. Evidence of convergent validity was provided by moderate correlations of the EMPA-D scale with empathy measures in psychology (SITES, Empathy Quotient, Interpersonal Reactivity Index), whereas discriminant validity was demonstrated by low correlations with the narcissism measure Narcissistic Personal Inventory. We outline how this self-reported empathy measure can support organizations in enhancing their services and discuss potential limitations of quantitatively measuring empathy in service teams.
Research Highlights We present the development and validation of the Empathy in Design Scale (EMPA-D), a self-report measure of employees’ empathy toward users of a service. We report on two validation studies and document the psychometric properties of the scale. The selected model consists of 11 items and a three-factor structure (Emotional interest/Perspective-taking, Personal experience and Self-awareness). The resulting EMPA-D scale contributes to filling the gap in metrics to assess empathy in the service design context. In industry, measuring employees’ empathy support the selection of appropriate empathic interventions to foster the service user-centeredness.
... In relation to the non-cognitive abilities discussed in this paper, relevant traits include curiosity, self-esteem, emotional intelligence, and empathy. Curiosity can be measured using 'The Five-Dimension Curiosity Scale' (Kashdan et al., 2020), optimism using the 'Revised Life Orientation Test' (Scheier et al., 1994), emotional intelligence using the 'Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire' (Petrides & Furnham, 2003), and empathy using 'The Interpersonal Reactivity Index' (Davis, 1983), all of which offer well-developed scales for measurement. Additionally, critical reaction can be assessed using the 'Cognitive Reflection Test' (Toplak et al., 2014). ...
This theoretical study aims to provide a learning model for adventure tour guides to become effective learning facilitators for adventure tourists, who have increasingly sought self-transformation through soft-adventure activities. This objective is drowned by the increasing interest in learning from different cultures among adventure tourists and also the attention to self-transformation through pedagogy, adventure tourism, outdoor adventure education (OAE), and pedagogy are becoming increasingly capable of sharing their theories under the concept of cross-boundary learning. This paper therefore organizes this sharing by considering the applicability of OAE theories to soft adventure tourist based on literature review. It then centers on the community of practice created from interaction between guides and tourists and between tourists as a way of learning, which can lead adventure tourists towards self-transformation, and discusses how guides can create opportunities for such cooperative learning community during their service. As a result, taking a cue from the SECI model, which underlies cross-boundary learning, a conceptual model was presented to implement the facilitator role of the guide in cross-boundary learning effectively. In this conceptual model, the guide’s role extends beyond knowledge transfer. Rather, the results of the study imply that guides are required to be co-creators of knowledge to accompany adventure tourists in their cross-boundary learning. The findings also suggest that guides need to become cross-boundary learners who may also learn from their customers.
This study explores the role of joyous curiosity in enhancing entrepreneurial self-efficacy, intentions, and startup project performance within practice-based entrepreneurship education programs. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), we develop a theoretical model positing that joyous curiosity acts as a catalyst for entrepreneurial self-efficacy, which subsequently influences entrepreneurial intentions and startup performance. Additionally, we examine how intrinsic and extrinsic outcome expectations moderate these relationships. To test our hypotheses, we gathered longitudinal data over two-and-a-half years from a diverse sample of 198 undergraduate and postgraduate students enrolled in a practice-based entrepreneurship training program. This extended data collection allowed us to capture variations across different cohorts of participants and temporal contexts. These participants came from a wide array of academic disciplines and cultural backgrounds. Our findings provide novel insights into the influence of curiosity and outcome expectations within the context of entrepreneurship education, offering actionable strategies to cultivate future innovators in the engineering and technology sectors.
Humans are curious. Especially children are known for their drive to explore and learn, which is crucial for developing in and navigating through our complex world. Naturally, some children may be more curious than others, leading to differences in how they structure their own learning experiences, subsequently impacting their developmental trajectories. However, there is a gap in the research field for a reliable measure of such differences early in development. Across three studies, we present the development and assessment of the Infant and Toddler Curiosity Questionnaire (ITCQ), the first caregiver report measure to fill this gap. Items cover observable exploration behaviors in 5‐ to 24‐month‐olds to capture general tendencies of their desire to actively explore their immediate surroundings and are evaluated on a 7‐point Likert‐scale. Exploratory factor analyses and structural equation modeling on a sample of N = 370 UK caregivers led to the final selection of 23 items and provided evidence that the scale allows the reliable computation of an overall curiosity score, with three emergent subscales ( Sensory, Investigative , and Interactive ) explaining additional variance in the data. Furthermore, the scale had good test‐retest reliability after 7–14 days ( N = 67) and related to the child's temperament ( N = 75; positively with surgency and effortful control, negatively with negative affect) offering evidence of its validity as a trait measure. Together, these results support the scale's reliability and validity, showcasing the ITCQ as a powerful tool for developmental research.
Purpose
This study aims to examine the effects on student motivation and perception of technological interventions within undergraduate mechanical engineering and product design and manufacture programs at a Sino-foreign international university. The authors use an augmented reality game application within a class on Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA) that was developed using the approaches of microlearning and digital game-based learning (DGBL).
Design/methodology/approach
Structured as design-based research, the study reports on developing innovative educational interventions and provides an empirical investigation of their effectiveness. Data were collected using a mixed methods approach, using pre- and post-tests and questionnaires, together with researcher observations and participant interviews.
Findings
Through two rounds of playtests, the game positively affected intrinsic motivation and encouraged higher-order cognitive learning, critical thinking, communication and collaboration. Collaborative learning plays a significant role, DGBL is preferred over traditional methods and microlearning reduces information density and cognitive overload.
Originality/value
The study contributes to our understanding of digital game-based interventions on students’ intrinsic motivation and provides insights into effective ways to design instructional materials in similar teaching and learning settings.
This paper explores the theoretical review of job crafting behavior in service organizations by reviewing the literature on innovation capabilities. A workforce with proactive traits faces less environmental restriction and shows more groundbreaking behaviors of novel change. The current study has moved its emphasis from the influence of organizational job design on worker consequences to the inspection of the part that the workforce plays in defining task, social, and cognitive limits of work to verify innovation. Thus, innovation change is sighted as the exploitation of novelty that entails alterations in work tasks for positive outcomes. This conceptual paper discusses the roles of innovation capabilities and job-crafting behavior in the IT industry. Refereeing to the theory of regulatory focus, the main objective of this paper is to create a new conceptual framework to understand the influence of employees’ perception of innovation capabilities by underpinning the regulatory focus model on job crafting behavior in the IT industry.
How do people choose what book to read? At times, people choose to exploit well-known options that are likely to lead to high enjoyment. However, readers must also effectively explore novel books in order to learn about less-known alternatives that might lead to high enjoyment. It is unknown precisely how and why readers make these sequential book selection decisions. By placing book options in a semantic embedding space, we show that people decide which book to explore using a structured generalization mechanism based on semantic similarities between known and unknown books and a directed exploration mechanism that incentivizes seeking books in high uncertainty. In addition, we demonstrate that people’s directed and random book exploration patterns are modulated by individual differences in curiosity, which fosters reading enjoyment and promotes exploring unfamiliar books. In summary, our study demonstrates that these computational mechanisms generalize to a new and ecologically valid context in order to drive consequential exploratory decisions with important real-world implications.
Curiosity is essential to the work of physicians, making it an important trait to promote in medical students. The purpose of this study was to gather initial validity evidence for applying Kashdan’s Five-Dimensional Curiosity Scale to medical students and determine if curiosity changes across medical school. Medical students at one institution completed the Five-Dimensional Curiosity Scale in 2 academic years (2020–2021 (N = 676) and 2021–2022 (N = 648)). Cognitive interviews were conducted with six students to clarify their interpretation of the items. The scale’s latent structure was explored using factor analysis and domain averages were compared across years of medical school. New items were added based on the cognitive interviews and the revised scale was administered in the next academic year (2022–2023, N = 590). Items loaded according to the expected five-factor model except Social Curiosity. Domain averages were not significantly different across the years of medical school. Compared to the national population, medical students scored significantly lower for Deprivation Sensitivity and significantly higher for all other domains. New items that split Social Curiosity into overt and covert loaded according to Kashdan’s Five-Dimensional Curiosity Scale. This study provides preliminary validity evidence for a multidimensional curiosity scale that can be used to determine the impact of curricular changes on medical student curiosity.
Curiosity, as the strong desire to acquire new information, plays a crucial role in human behaviors. While recent research has delved into the effects, behavioral manifestations, and neural underpinnings of curiosity, the absence of standardized assessment tools for measuring curiosity may hinder advancements in this field. Here, we translated different curiosity scales into Chinese and tested each translated scale by examining its reliability and structural validity. Our results showed that the scores derived from these scales have comparable reliability to those original versions. The confirmatory factor analysis results of the curiosity scales were consistent with previous results. We also found significant associations between different types of curiosity within taxonomy and demonstrated that personality traits such as impulsive sensation seeking, intolerance of uncertainty, and openness can jointly predict trait curiosity. Additionally, we confirmed the social dimension of curiosity, showing that loneliness partially mediates the relationship between social anxiety and social curiosity. This study provides validated Chinese versions of curiosity scales and elucidates the mechanisms of curiosity from multiple perspectives, potentially advancing curiosity research in the Chinese and cross‐cultural contexts.
To understand human learning and progress, it is crucial to understand curiosity. But how consistent is curiosity’s conception and assessment across scientific research disciplines? We present the results of a large collaborative project assessing the correspondence between curiosity measures in personality psychology and cognitive science. A total of 820 participants completed 15 personality trait measures and 9 cognitive tasks that tested multiple aspects of information demand. We show that shared variance across the cognitive tasks was captured by a dimension reflecting directed (uncertainty-driven) versus random (stochasticity-driven) exploration and individual differences along this axis were significantly and consistently predicted by personality traits. However, the personality metrics that best predicted information demand were not the central curiosity traits of openness to experience, deprivation sensitivity, and joyous exploration, but instead included more peripheral curiosity traits (need for cognition, thrill seeking, and stress tolerance) and measures not traditionally associated with curiosity (extraversion and behavioral inhibition). The results suggest that the umbrella term “curiosity” reflects a constellation of cognitive and emotional processes, only some of which are shared between personality measures and cognitive tasks. The results reflect the distinct methods that are used in these fields, indicating a need for caution in comparing results across fields and for future interdisciplinary collaborations to strengthen our emerging understanding of curiosity.
Intrinsically motivated information seeking is an expression of curiosity believed to be central to human nature. However, most curiosity research relies on small, Western convenience samples. Here, we analyze a naturalistic population of 482,760 readers using Wikipedia’s mobile app in 14 languages from 50 countries or territories. By measuring the structure of knowledge networks constructed by readers weaving a thread through articles in Wikipedia, we replicate two styles of curiosity previously identified in laboratory studies: the nomadic “busybody” and the targeted “hunter.” Further, we find evidence for another style—the “dancer”—which was previously predicted by a historico-philosophical examination of texts over two millennia and is characterized by creative modes of knowledge production. We identify associations, globally, between the structure of knowledge networks and population-level indicators of spatial navigation, education, mood, well-being, and inequality. These results advance our understanding of Wikipedia’s global readership and demonstrate how cultural and geographical properties of the digital environment relate to different styles of curiosity.
Children demonstrate a remarkable capacity for both intellectual and interpersonal curiosity, reflecting their desires to know about the physical, material, and natural world and about the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of other people. Yet the study of curiosity and its educational applications have focused almost exclusively on the former, even though interpersonal curiosity may be critical for social emotional learning, human connection, and the capacity to understand and take the perspective of others. In this paper, we review the research on intellectual and interpersonal curiosity, focusing on the latter and including our own research that indicates that it is associated with social emotional wellbeing, academic engagement, and a sense of common humanity (Author, 2023; Authors, 2024). We also review research on how ecological contexts (e.g., of families and schools) shape curiosity, how contextual variation may lead to individual variation (i.e., by gender and age), and offer directions for future research.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine curiosity as a distal predictor of knowledge sharing facilitated by informal learning. It also probes the boundary conditions imposed by ebullient supervision in the influence of curiosity on knowledge sharing.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected data through a two-wave survey of 349 knowledge workers in the IT sector and used structural equation modeling to analyze the data.
Findings
The results indicated a positive relationship between curiosity and knowledge sharing. In particular, informal learning was found to mediate the relationship between curiosity and knowledge sharing and ebullient supervision was identified as a significant condition that strengthens the effect of curiosity on informal learning.
Practical implications
Organizations can promote knowledge sharing by harnessing curiosity as an intrinsic motivator for employees to engage in informal learning. Moreover, the findings identified ebullient supervision as an extrinsic motivator within the work environment, suggesting its potential to enhance the impact of curiosity on knowledge sharing.
Originality/value
This paper broadens the limited literature on ebullient leadership by revealing how it strengthens the effects of curiosity and informal learning on knowledge sharing.
Given the ubiquity of exploration in everyday life, researchers from many disciplines have developed methods to measure exploratory behaviour. There are therefore many ways to quantify and measure exploration. However, it remains unclear whether the different measures (i) have convergent validity relative to one another, (ii) capture a domain general tendency, and (iii) capture a tendency that is stable across time. In a sample of 678 participants, we found very little evidence of convergent validity for the behavioural measures (Hypothesis 1); most of the behavioural measures lacked sufficient convergent validity with one another or with the self-reports. In psychometric modelling analyses, we could not identify a good fitting model with an assumed general tendency to explore (Hypothesis 2); the best fitting model suggested that the different behavioural measures capture behaviours that are specific to the tasks. In a subsample of 254 participants who completed the study a second time, we found that the measures had stability across an 1 month timespan (Hypothesis 3). Therefore, although there were stable individual differences in how people approached each task across time, there was no generalizability across tasks, and drawing broad conclusions about exploratory behaviour from studies using these tasks may be problematic. The Stage 1 protocol for this Registered Report was accepted in principle on 2nd December 2022 https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.21717407.v1. The protocol, as accepted by the journal, can be found at https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/64QJU.
Quarter Life Crisis is a difficult encounter in the life transition from adolescence to early adulthood. This crisis revolves around social comparison, work satisfaction, intimate relationships, career consolidation, preoccupations and fears, struggle from transition, social isolation, and frustration and disappointments. This study examined the psychological well-being, curiosity, and perfectionism among young professionals with a quarter-life crisis. There were 318 participants in this study from two different cities in one province of Region IV-A in the Philippines. The study used a sequential explanatory mixed method design that combines qualitative and quantitative research. Based on the result, the research found that young professionals with quarter-life crises have low psychological well-being, low curiosity, and high perfectionism. The themes, low disposition, poor mindset, and weak personality were extracted from the texts to fully support the respective variables. Furthermore, the research proposed a psychological intervention plan for young professionals experiencing the crisis: the existential positive psychology wellness plan.
Curiosity is a concept studied particularly in psychology. Today, it is used by practitioners in marketing to support strategies of attractiveness, motivation, or to capture attention. This article proposes a multidisciplinary synthesis of this concept through a bibliometric analysis and a literature review. A conceptual framework is proposed for marketing researchers interested in curiosity, offering a new definition of the concept, its antecedents, and its effects. A research agenda prioritized by practitioners can serve as the basis for future work. Curiosity, traditionally explored in psychology, has found its place in marketing as a means for enhancing appeal, motivation, and attention. This article offers a comprehensive multidisciplinary overview of curiosity by combining bibliometric analysis and literature review. It introduces a new framework for marketing researchers interested in curiosity, presenting a fresh definition, its precursors, and outcomes. It also outlines a research agenda shaped by practitioners to guide future inquiries.
The unbridled positivity toward curiosity and creativity may be excessive. Both aid species survival through exploration and advancement. These beneficial effects are well documented. What remains is to understand their optimal levels and contexts for maximal achievement, health, and well-being. Every beneficial element to individuals and groups carries the potential for harm – curiosity and creativity included.
We extend Ivancovsky et al.'s finding on the association between curiosity and creativity by proposing a sequential causal model assuming that (a) curiosity determines the motivation to seek information and that (b) creativity constitutes a capacity to act on that motivation. This framework assumes that both high levels of curiosity and creativity are necessary for information-seeking behavior.
We replicated and extended (N = 207) work on the social values (i.e., obedience, tradition, security, benevolence, universalism, self-direction, stimulation, hedonism, achievement, and power) linked to the Dark Triad traits (i.e., narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism). Each of the traits was positively associated with values of achievement and power. Psychopathy and narcissism were both negatively correlated with benevolence, and psychopathy and Machiavellianism were negatively correlated with obedience. Psychopathy was also negatively correlated with tradition. Sex differences in the values of tradition, benevolence, and power were mediated by psychopathy. We suggest that high rates of the Dark Triad traits facilitate, for men, holding social values that emphasize standing out whereas low rates facilitate, for women, fitting in.
This study examined the effect of satisfaction of the basic psychological need for autonomy on curiosity. One hundred and fifty-four participants first completed measures of autonomy-need satisfaction and curiosity. Participants were then randomly assigned to either a condition that supported autonomy of choice or a condition not supporting autonomy of choice. The autonomy-choice intervention provided participants with choice of topic for a video they could watch, while those in the no-autonomy of choice condition did not have choice. All participants then rated their curiosity regarding the topic of the video. Results showed that participants whose need for autonomy was more satisfied had higher levels of curiosity. Participants randomly assigned to the autonomy of choice condition providing choice of topic showed greater curiosity regarding the topic than participants who did not have a choice of topic. Autonomy of choice was most beneficial in stimulating a high level of curiosity about the topic for participants who had low general autonomy need satisfaction. The results of the study support the importance of self-determination in fostering the emotion of curiosity.
Philosophers and behavioral scientists refer to wisdom as unbiased reasoning that guides one toward a balance of interests and promotes a good life. However, major instruments developed to test wisdom appear biased, and it is unclear whether they capture balance-related tendencies. We examined whether shifting from global, de-contextualized reports to state-level reports about concrete situations provides a less biased method to assess wise reasoning (e.g., intellectual humility, recognition of uncertainty and change, consideration of the broader context at hand and perspectives of others, integration of these perspectives or compromise), which may be aligned with the notion of balancing interests. Results of a large-scale psychometric investigation (N = 4,463) revealed that the novel Situated WIse Reasoning Scale (SWIS) is reliable and appears independent of psychological biases (attribution bias, bias blind spot, self-deception, and impression management), whereas global wisdom reports are subject to such biases. Moreover, SWIS scores were positively related to indices of living well (e.g., adaptive emotion regulation, mindfulness), and balancing of cooperative and self-protective interests, goals (influence-vs.-adjustment), and causal inferences about conflict (attribution to the self-vs.-other party). In contrast, global wisdom reports were unrelated or negatively related to balance-related measures. Notably, people showed modest within-person consistency in wise reasoning across situations or over time, suggesting that a single-shot measurement may be insufficient for whole understanding of trait-level wisdom. We discuss theoretical and practical implications for research on wisdom, judgment and decision making, well-being, and prosociality. (PsycINFO Database Record
Most people can reason relatively wisely about others’ social conflicts, but often struggle to do so about their own (i.e., Solomon’s Paradox; Grossmann & Kross, 2014). We suggest that true wisdom should involve the ability to reason wisely about others’ and one’s own social conflicts. The present studies investigate the pursuit of virtue as a construct that predicts this broader capacity for wisdom. Results across two studies support prior Solomon’s Paradox findings: participants (N = 623) expressed greater wisdom (e.g., intellectual humility, adopting outsider’s perspectives) about others’ social conflicts than their own. The pursuit of virtue (e.g., pursuing personal ideals and contributing to others) moderated these results. In both studies, high virtue pursuit was associated with a greater endorsement of wise reasoning strategies for one’s own personal conflicts, reducing the discrepancy in wise reasoning between one’s own and others’ social conflicts. Implications and mechanisms are explored and discussed.
Scales are commonly used in psychological research to measure directly unobservable constructs like motivation or depression. These scales are comprised of multiple items, each aiming to provide information about various aspects of the construct of interest. Whenever a scale is used in a psychological study, it is important to report on its reliability. Since the 1950s, the primary method for capturing reliability has been Cronbach’s alpha, a method whose status is perhaps best exemplified by its place as one of the most cited scientific articles of all-time, in any field. Despite its overwhelming popularity, the underlying assumptions of Cronbach’s alpha have been questioned recently in the statistical literature because these assumptions were commonplace 65 years ago but have largely disappeared from more modern statistical methods for constructing scales. Though the ideas in these statistical articles have the potential to significantly alter how psychological research is conducted and reported, recommendations from the statistical literature have yet to permeate the psychological literature. In this article, the goal is to demonstrate why Cronbach’s alpha is no longer the optimal method for reporting on reliability. To differentiate this article from articles appearing in the statistical literature, we approach issues with Cronbach’s alpha with very little focus on mathematical or computational detail so that the deficiencies of Cronbach’s alpha are illustrated in words and examples rather than proofs and simulations so that these ideas can impact a larger group of researchers—namely, the researchers who most often report Cronbach’s alpha.
Values are a central personality construct and the importance of studying them has been well established. To encourage researchers to integrate measures of values into their studies, brief and ultrabrief instruments were developed to recapture the 10 values measured by the 40-item Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ; Schwartz, 2003 Schwartz, S. H. (2003). A proposal for measuring value orientations across nations. In Questionnaire development report of the European Social Survey (pp. 259–319). Retrieved from http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=126&Itemid=80). Rigorous psychometric procedures based on separate derivation (N = 38,049) and evaluation (N = 29,143) samples yielded 10- and 20-item measures of values, which proved to be successful at capturing the patterns and magnitude of correlations associated with the original PVQ. These instruments should be useful to researchers who would like to incorporate a values scale into their study but do not have the space to administer a longer measure.
Organizational ambidexterity has been established as an important antecedent of organizational innovation and performance. Recently, researchers have started to argue that ambidexterity is not only essential at the organizational, but also at the individual level. Thus, to be innovative, individuals need to engage in both explorative and exploitative behaviors. However, questions remain regarding the optimal balance of explorative and exploitative behaviors and how ambidexterity can be operationalized. At the organizational level, most empirical research utilized either the difference between, or the product of, exploration and exploitation. In this article, we criticize these approaches on conceptual and methodological grounds and argue for an alternative operationalization of ambidexterity: polynomial regression and response surface methodology. In two diary studies with daily and weekly data, we demonstrate the advantages of this approach. We discuss implications for ambidexterity research and innovation practice.
Three studies were conducted to develop and validate the Big Five Inventory-2 (BFI-2), a major revision of the Big Five Inventory (BFI). Study 1 specified a hierarchical model of personality structure with 15 facet traits nested within the Big Five domains, and developed a preliminary item pool to measure this structure. Study 2 used conceptual and empirical criteria to construct the BFI-2 domain and facet scales from the preliminary item pool. Study 3 used data from 2 validation samples to evaluate the BFI-2’s measurement properties and substantive relations with self-reported and peer-reported criteria. The results of these studies indicate that the BFI-2 is a reliable and valid personality measure, and an important advance over the original BFI. Specifically, the BFI-2 introduces a robust hierarchical structure, controls for individual differences in acquiescent responding, and provides greater bandwidth, fidelity, and predictive power than the original BFI, while still retaining the original measure’s conceptual focus, brevity, and ease of understanding. The BFI-2 therefore offers valuable new opportunities for research examining the structure, assessment, development, and life outcomes of personality traits.
A series of studies was conducted to create the 22-item Comprehensive Intellectual Humility Scale on the basis of theoretical descriptions of intellectual humility, expert reviews, pilot studies, and exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The scale measures 4 distinct but intercorrelated aspects of intellectual humility, including independence of intellect and ego, openness to revising one's viewpoint, respect for others' viewpoints, and lack of intellectual overconfidence. Internal consistency and test-retest analyses provided reliable scale and subscale scores within numerous independent samples. Validation data were obtained from multiple, independent samples, supporting appropriate levels of convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity. The analyses suggest that the scale has utility as a self-report measure for future research.
Curiosity is a basic element of our cognition, but its biological function, mechanisms, and neural underpinning remain poorly understood. It is nonetheless a motivator for learning, influential in decision-making, and crucial for healthy development. One factor limiting our understanding of it is the lack of a widely agreed upon delineation of what is and is not curiosity. Another factor is the dearth of standardized laboratory tasks that manipulate curiosity in the lab. Despite these barriers, recent years have seen a major growth of interest in both the neuroscience and psychology of curiosity. In this Perspective, we advocate for the importance of the field, provide a selective overview of its current state, and describe tasks that are used to study curiosity and information-seeking. We propose that, rather than worry about defining curiosity, it is more helpful to consider the motivations for information-seeking behavior and to study it in its ethological context.
Purpose – The present paper addresses regulatory focus (promotion versus prevention) as a trait-level and a week-level variable linked to employee job crafting behaviors (i.e., seeking resources, seeking challenges and reducing demands). We hypothesized that while promotion focus relates positively to seeking resources and seeking challenges, prevention focus relates positively to reducing demands. Furthermore, we expected that the links between week-level regulatory focus and crafting would be stronger when the respective trait-level regulatory focus is high.
Design/Methodology/Approach – Two studies were conducted to address our aims, namely, a cross-sectional survey among 580 civil servants and a weekly survey among 81 employees of several occupations.
Findings – The hypothesized links between regulatory focus and job crafting were supported at the trait- and the week-level. Only the link between week-level prevention focus and reducing demands was stronger when trait-level prevention focus was high. Unexpectedly, seeking resources positively related to prevention focus at the week-level.
Practical implications – While prevention states may enhance reducing demands behaviors especially for prevention focused employees, organizations and managers may use promotion states to enhance seeking resources and seeking challenges behaviors among all types of employees and, thereby, shape a strategy emphasizing the promotion values of growth and development.
Originality/Value – Our findings shed light to a diverse range of employee motivational orientations (i.e., approach vs. avoidance and trait-like vs. state-like) behind job crafting and, thus, shed light to individual correlates of job crafting.
This article presents the psychometric properties of a new measure of social anxiety, the Social Anxiety Questionnaire for adults (SAQ), composed of 30 items that were developed based on participants from 16 Latin American countries, Spain, and Portugal. Two groups of participants were included in the study: a nonclinical group involving 18,133 persons and a clinical group comprising 334 patients with a diagnosis of social anxiety disorder (social phobia). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a 5-factor structure of the questionnaire. The factors were labeled as follows: (1) Interactions with strangers, (2) Speaking in public/talking with people in authority, (3) Interactions with the opposite sex, (4) Criticism and embarrassment, and (5) Assertive expression of annoyance, disgust, or displeasure. Psychometric evidence supported the internal consistency, convergent validity, and measurement invariance of the SAQ. To facilitate clinical applications, a receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis identified cut scores for men and women for each factor and for the global score. (PsycINFO Database Record
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Regulatory fit theory predicts that motivation and performance are enhanced when individuals pursue goals framed in a way that fits their regulatory orientation (promotion vs. prevention focus). Our aim was to test the predictions of the theory when individuals deal with change. We expected and found in three studies that regulatory fit is beneficial only when a prevention focus is involved. In Study 1, an experiment among students, prevention- but not promotion-focused participants performed better in a changed task when it was framed in fit with their regulatory orientation. In Study 2, a survey among employees experiencing organizational changes, only the fit between individual prevention (and not promotion) focus and prevention framing of the changes by the manager was associated with higher employee adaptation to changes. In Study 3, a weekly survey among employees undergoing organizational change, again only prevention regulatory fit was associated with lower employee exhaustion and higher employee work engagement. Theoretical and practical implications of applying regulatory focus theory to organizational change are discussed.
This study examined how dissent expression related to employees’ self reports of work engagement and intention to leave. A sample of full-time employees completed a multi-instrument questionnaire. Findings indicated that dissent expression related to both employees’ work engagement and their intention to leave. In particular, dissent expressed to management and coworkers associated with work engagement, whereas dissent expressed to nonmanagement audiences associated with intention to leave. Additional analysis revealed that for managers, work engagement was primarily a function of refraining from expressing dissent.
Interpersonal curiosity (IPC) is the desire for new information about people. Fifty-one IPC items were administered to 321 participants (248 women, 73 men), along with other measures of curiosity and personality. Three factors were identified from which five-item subscales were developed that had good internal consistency: Curiosity about Emotions, Spying and Prying, and Snooping. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated the three-factor model had acceptable fit. The IPC scales correlated positively with other curiosity measures and interest in gossip, providing evidence of convergent validity. Divergent validity was demonstrated in finding the other curiosity scales correlated more highly with each other than with IPC; parallel results were found for the gossip measures.
This paper proposes a new theoretical model of curiosity that incorporates the neuroscience of “wanting” and “liking”, which are two systems hypothesised to underlie motivation and affective experience for a broad class of appetites. In developing the new model, the paper discusses empirical and theoretical limitations inherent to drive and optimal arousal theories of curiosity, and evaluates these models in relation to Litman and Jimerson's (2004) recently developed interest-deprivation (I/D) theory of curiosity. A detailed discussion of the I/D model and its relationship to the neuroscience of wanting and liking is provided, and an integrative I/D/wanting-liking model is proposed, with the aim of clarifying the complex nature of curiosity as an emotional-motivational state, and to shed light on the different ways in which acquiring knowledge can be pleasurable.
A newly-developed 20-item Tendency to Gossip Questionnaire (TGQ) is described. TGQ scores were normally distributed and showed high internal consistency (.87) for a sample of 120 students (58 female, 62 male). TGQ scores for females were significantly higher than those for males. The TGQ was validated against peer ratings using 30 kibbutz members. The TGQ's relationship to social desirability and vocational interest in people-oriented professions were studied. Four possible subscales of gossip content emerged through factor analysis: (1) physical appearance, (2) achievement, (3) social information, and (4) sublimated gossip.
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 article reports on the development of a short questionnaire to measure work engagement—a positive work-related state of fulfillment that is characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption. Data were collected in 10 different countries (N = 14,521), and results indicated that the original 17-item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) can be shortened to 9 items (UWES-9). The factorial validity of the UWES-9 was demonstrated using confirmatory factor analyses, and the three scale scores have good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Furthermore, a two-factor model with a reduced Burnout factor (including exhaustion and cynicism) and an expanded Engagement factor (including vigor, dedication, absorption, and professional efficacy) fit best to the data. These results confirm that work engagement may be conceived as the positive antipode of burnout. It is concluded that the UWES-9 scores has acceptable psychometric properties and that the instrument can be used in studies on positive organizational behavior.
Over the past century, academic performance has become the gatekeeper to institutions of higher education, shaping career paths and individual life trajectories. Accordingly, much psychological research has focused on identifying predictors of academic performance, with intelligence and effort emerging as core determinants. In this article, we propose expanding on the traditional set of predictors by adding a third agency: intellectual curiosity. A series of path models based on a meta-analytically derived correlation matrix showed that (a) intelligence is the single most powerful predictor of academic performance; (b) the effects of intelligence on academic performance are not mediated by personality traits; (c) intelligence, Conscientiousness (as marker of effort), and Typical Intellectual Engagement (as marker of intellectual curiosity) are direct, correlated predictors of academic performance; and (d) the additive predictive effect of the personality traits of intellectual curiosity and effort rival that the influence of intelligence. Our results highlight that a "hungry mind" is a core determinant of individual differences in academic achievement.
© Association for Psychological Science 2011.
This two-wave (16-month lag) Belgian panel study is one of the first to test theory-driven hypotheses on the relations between job resources, work engagement, and actual turnover across time. The study focuses on three groups: stayers, workers who have obtained promotions (“promotion makers”), and external job movers. In line with the Job Demands-Resources model, we hypothesized normal cross-lagged effects of job resources on work engagement for stayers. Based on broaden-and-build theory, a reversed causal effect of work engagement on job resources was predicted for the job changers. Additionally, we examined whether the changes in the job change groups matched the refuge hypothesis (that less engaged workers change to jobs providing more resources) or the positive gain hypothesis (that engaged workers get promoted to jobs having even more resources). The results partially supported our hypotheses. We found that low work engagement, low job autonomy, and low departmental resources predicted actual transfer to another company. Furthermore, for stayers we found positive effects of job autonomy on work engagement, but also reversed causal effects. For external movers and promotion makers the expected reversed causal effects of work engagement were found. The across time mean changes support the positive gain hypothesis for promotion makers, and the refuge hypothesis for external movers.
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.
Conversation is a uniquely human phenomenon. Analyses of freely forming conversations indicate that approximately two thirds of conversation time is devoted to social topics, most of which can be given the generic label gossip. This article first explores the origins of gossip as a mechanism for bonding social groups, tracing these origins back to social grooming among primates. It then asks why social gossip in this sense should form so important a component of human interaction and presents evidence to suggest that, aside from servicing social networks, a key function may be related explicitly to controlling free riders. Finally, the author reviews briefly the role of social cognition in facilitating conversations of this kind. (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)
Publisher Summary This chapter addresses the universals in the content and structure of values, concentrating on the theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries, and its four basic issues: substantive contents of human values; identification of comprehensive set of values; extent to which the meaning of particular values was equivalent for different groups of people; and how the relations among different values was structured. Substantial progress has been made toward resolving each of these issues. Ten motivationally distinct value types that were likely to be recognized within and across cultures and used to form value priorities were identified. Set of value types that was relatively comprehensive, encompassing virtually all the types of values to which individuals attribute at least moderate importance as criteria of evaluation was demonstrated. The evidence from 20 countries was assembled, showing that the meaning of the value types and most of the single values that constitute them was reasonably equivalent across most groups. Two basic dimensions that organize value systems into an integrated motivational structure with consistent value conflicts and compatibilities were discovered. By identifying universal aspects of value content and structure, the chapter has laid the foundations for investigating culture-specific aspects in the future.
Curiosity, a personality trait underlying behavioral tendencies related to knowledge acquisition, learning, and thinking, can be expected to be of high relevance in the world of work. There is, however, to date no work-related curiosity measure. The present article reports results regarding the development and validation of the new 10-item Work-Related Curiosity Scale. Based on two studies, the measure had a one-factor solution, acceptable internal consistency, and expected construct validity. In Study 2, incremental criterion-related validities were found over and above five general curiosity scales (ΔR² between .12 and .15), which is in line with the frame-of-reference approach underlying the development of the scale. Interestingly, the lack of evidence for criterion-related validity in Study 1 indicates that these results do not generalize across positions.
Previous research has shown that greater curiosity, the desire to know, is associated with more creativity, which entails generating new or useful ideas or products. The intense concentration and absorption that characterises the phenomenon of flow may connect curiosity with creativity. The present study investigated the connections between three dimensions of curiosity, namely joyous exploration-related curiosity, knowledge-deprivation sensitivity, and stress tolerance. Fifty-seven participants, with a mean age of 35, engaged in the novel task of designing a water conservation program. Participants judged their experience of designing the program on scales that assessed their curiosity and flow during the activity. Two raters independently coded each participant's program description on creativity, and the mean of the two ratings produced the creativity score for that participant. Higher joyous exploration curiosity, knowledge-deprivation sensitivity, and tolerance of stress were all associated with more flow. More experience of flow, as judged by participants after engaging in the activity, was significantly associated with greater creativity. Even though the direct relationships between curiosity and creativity did not reach statistical significance, flow linked each of the dimensions of curiosity with creativity. These findings may provide a basis for programs intended to increase flow or creativity.
The five-dimensional curiosity construct, recently advanced by Kashdan and his colleagues (2018a), was examined using open-ended and Likert type questionnaires to further understand the nomological network and correlates of the five curiosity dimensions. The nature of each dimension (Joyous Exploration, Deprivation Sensitivity, Stress Tolerance, Social curiosity, and Thrill-Seeking) and of profiles based on those dimensions were examined as well as their relationships with value-driven actions (Personal Well-being, Moral values, Religious values, Social Ideology, and Environment.) Results of qualitative and quantitative analyses shed light on the role of positive uncertainty (stress tolerance) and of thrill-seeking in shaping epistemic and social curiosity; on authentic descriptions of reactions to curiosity-related objects or situations; on types of questions of interest that are more likely to be posed by curious people, and on values that drive their actions. The findings were discussed from an educative perspective.
Since the origins of psychology, curiosity has occupied a pivotal position in the study of motivation, emotion, and cognition; and disciplines as far-ranging as biology, economics, robotics, and leadership. Theorists have disagreed about the basic tenets of curiosity; some researchers contend that the rewards arise when resolving ambiguity and uncertainty whereas others argue that being curious is an intrinsically pleasurable experience. Three studies were conducted to consolidate competing theories and isolated bodies of research. Using data from a community survey of 508 adults (Study 1), 403 adults on MTurk (Study 2), and a nationally representative household survey of 3,000 adults (Study 3), we found evidence for five distinct factors: Joyous Exploration, Deprivation Sensitivity, Stress Tolerance, Social Curiosity, and Thrill Seeking - forming The Five-Dimensional Curiosity Scale (5DC). Each factor had substantive relations with a battery of personality, emotion, and well-being measures. Taking advantage of this multidimensional model, we found evidence for four distinct types of curious people in Study 3 referred to as The Fascinated (28% of sample), Problem Solvers (28%), Empathizers (25%), and Avoiders (19%). Subgroups differed in their passionate interests, areas of expertise, consumer behavior, and social media use; challenging an assumption that there is a homogenous population to be discriminated on a single dimension from incurious to very curious. With greater bandwidth and predictive power, the 5DC offers new opportunities for research on origins, consequences, life outcomes, and intervention strategies to enhance curiosity.
The investment theory of adult intelligence posits that individual differences in knowledge attainment result from people’s differences in cognitive ability and their propensity to apply and invest that ability, which is referred to as investment personality traits. Here, we differentiated intellectual (i.e., intellectual curiosity) and non-intellectual investment (i.e., openness to experience), and we tested their respective predictive validity for knowledge attainment in four independent lab-based studies (overall N = 649). Openness to experience was positively associated with knowledge attainment across all four studies, and this effect was by and large independent of cognitive ability. By contrast, intellectual curiosity was not related to knowledge attainment. The findings suggest that openness to experience, rather than intellectual curiosity, is the investment personality trait that broadly benefits learning and adult intelligence.
Four studies examined intellectual humility—the degree to which people recognize that their beliefs might be wrong. Using a new Intellectual Humility (IH) Scale, Study 1 showed that intellectual humility was associated with variables related to openness, curiosity, tolerance of ambiguity, and low dogmatism. Study 2 revealed that participants high in intellectual humility were less certain that their beliefs about religion were correct and judged people less on the basis of their religious opinions. In Study 3, participants high in intellectual humility were less inclined to think that politicians who changed their attitudes were “flip-flopping,” and Study 4 showed that people high in intellectual humility were more attuned to the strength of persuasive arguments than those who were low. In addition to extending our understanding of intellectual humility, this research demonstrates that the IH Scale is a valid measure of the degree to which people recognize that their beliefs are fallible.
Sure, and longitudinal studies in the social and behavioral sciences generally contain missing data. Mean and covariance structure models play an important role in analyzing such data. Two promising methods for dealing with missing data are a direct I,maximum-likelihood and a two-stage approach based on the unstructured mean and covariance estimates obtained by the EM-algorithm. Typical assumptions under these two methods are ignorable nonresponse and normality of data. However, data sets in social and behavioral sciences are seldom normal. and experience with these procedures indicates that normal theory based methods for nonnormal data very often lead to incorrect model evaluations. By dropping the normal distribution assumption, we develop more accurate procedures for model inference. Based on the theory of generalized estimating equations, a way to obtain consistent standard errors of the two-stage estimates is given. The asymptotic efficiencies of different estimators are compared under various assumptions. Ne also propose a minimum chi-square approach and show that the estimator obtained by this approach is asymptotically at least as efficient as the two likelihood-based estimators for either normal or nonnormal darn. The major contribution of this paper is that for each estimator, we give a test statistic whose asymptotic distribution is chi-square as long as the underlying sampling distribution enjoys finite fourth-order moments. Ne also give a characterization for each of the two likelihood ratio rest statistics,when the underlying distribution is nonnormal. Modifications to the likelihood ratio statistics are also Riven. Our working assumption is that the missing data mechanism is missing comptetely at random. examples and Monte Carlo studies indicate that, for commonly encountered nonnormal distributions, the procedures developed in this paper are quite reliable even for samples with missing data that ar-e missing at random.
The present study integrated a number of streams of research on the antecedents of innovation to develop and test a model of individual innovative behavior. Hypothesizing that leadership, individual problem-solving style, and work group relations affect innovative behavior directly and indirectly through their influence on perceptions of the climate for innovation, we used structural equation analysis to test the parameters of the proposed model simultaneously and also explored the moderating effect of task characteristics. The model explained approximately 37 percent of the variance in innovative behavior. Tasktype moderated the relationship between leader role expectations and innovative behavior.
How does it feel to be curious? We reasoned that there are two sides to curiosity: not knowing something (i.e. information-gap) and almost knowing something (i.e. anticipation of resolution). In three experiments, we showed that time affects the relative impact of these two components: When people did not expect to close their information-gap soon (long time-to-resolution) not knowing affected the subjective experience of curiosity more strongly than when they expected to close their information-gap quickly (short time-to-resolution). As such, people experienced less positive affect, more discomfort, and more annoyance with lack of information in a long than a short time-to-resolution situation. Moreover, when time in the long time-to-resolution setting passed, the anticipation of the resolution became stronger, positive affect increased, and discomfort and annoyance with lack of information decreased. Time is thus a key factor in the experience of curiosity.
Psychological need constructs have received increased attention within self-determination theory research. Unfortunately, the most widely used need-satisfaction measure, the Basic Psychological Needs Scale (BPNS; Gagné in Motiv Emot 27:199–223, 2003), has been found to be problematic (Johnston and Finney in Contemp Educ Psychol 35:280–296, 2010). In the current study, we formally describe an alternate measure, the Balanced Measure of Psychological Needs (BMPN). We explore the factor structure of student responses to both the BPNS and the BMPN, followed by an empirical comparison of the BPNS to the BMPN as predictors of relevant outcomes. For both scales, we tested a model specifying three latent need factors (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) and two latent method factors (satisfaction and dissatisfaction). By specifying and comparing a series of nested confirmatory factor analytic models, we examine the theoretical structure of the need satisfaction variables and produce evidence for convergent and discriminant validity of the posited constructs. The results of our examination suggest that the three need variables should not be combined into one general need factor and may have separate satisfaction and dissatisfaction dimensions. Our model comparisons also suggest the BMPN may be an improved instrument for SDT researchers.
We investigated the relationship between various character strengths and life satisfaction among 5,299 adults from three Internet samples using the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths. Consistently and robustly associated with life satisfaction were hope, zest, gratitude, love, and curiosity. Only weakly associated with life satisfaction, in contrast, were modesty and the intellectual strengths of appreciation of beauty, creativity, judgment, and love of learning. In general, the relationship between character strengths and life satisfaction was monotonic, indicating that excess on any one character strength does not diminish life satisfaction.
Minority dissent disrupts stability but also stimulates individual creativity, the quality of group decision making, and organizational adaptiveness. It is argued that we know little about antecedents of minority dissent in organizations. To fill this void, managers (N= 108) were asked about their willingness to take up a minority position within their team or work unit. Results showed that willingness to dissent was predicted by the manager's extraversion, as well as by group factors, including possibility for communication, goal clarity, and past neglect of disagreements. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Past research suggests that minority dissent in teams may foster team innovations. It is hypothesized, however, that minority dissent would predict team innovations only when teams have high levels of reflexivity - the tendency to overtly reflect upon the group's objectives, strategies, and processes and adapt them to current or anticipated circumstances. This hypothesis was tested in a field study involving a heterogeneous sample of 32 organizational teams performing complex, ill-defined tasks. Results showed more innovation and greater team effectiveness under high rather than low levels of minority dissent, but only when there was a high level of team reflexivity. Avenues for future research are discussed.
One of the most important decisions that can be made in the use of factor analysis is the number of factors to retain. Numerous studies have consistently shown that Horn's parallel analysis is the most nearly accurate methodology for determining the number of factors to retain in an exploratory factor analysis. Although Horn's procedure is relatively accurate, it still tends to error in the direction of indicating the retention of one or two more factors than is actually warranted or of retaining poorly defined factors. A modification of Horn's parallel analysis based on Monte Carlo simulation of the null distributions of the eigenvalues generated from a population correlation identity matrix is introduced. This modification allows identification of any desired upper 1 - a percentile, such as the 95th percentile of this set of distributions. The 1 - ax percentile then can be used to determine whether an eigenvalue is larger than what could be expected by chance. Horn based his original procedure on the average eigenvalues derived from this set of distributions. The modified procedure reduces the tendency of the parallel analysis methodology to overextract. An example is provided that demonstrates this capability. A demonstration is also given that indicates that the parallel analysis procedure and its modification are insensitive to the distributional characteristics of the data used to generate the eigenvalue distributions.
The general trend toward more democratic forms of organizing highlights the necessity to consider how employees engage their organizations in participative environments. Assessing employee dissent represents one means of understanding the dialogue between employee and employer. The purpose of this study was to develop a measure for operationalizing how employees verbally express their contradictory opinions and disagreements about organizational phenomena. The Organizational Dissent Scale (ODS) was developed and tested in a series of studies designed to generate evidence of validity and reliability for the measure. Results indicate that the scale measures how employees express dissent along three dimensions: articulated, antagonistic (latent), and displaced. Results also indicate that initial evidence of validity and reliability exists for the scale.
The present study integrated a number of streams of research on the antecedents of innovation to develop and test a model of individual innovative behavior. Hypothesizing that leadership, individual problem-solving style, and work group relations affect innovative behavior directly and indirectly through their influence on perceptions of the climate for innovation, we used structural equation analysis to test the parameters of the proposed model simultaneously and also explored the moderating effect of task characteristics. The model explained approximately 37 percent of the variance in innovative behavior. Task type moderated the relationship between leader role expectations and innovative behavior.
Recent conceptualizations of curiosity have identified two underlying factors that together represent trait curiosity: exploration (the disposition to seek out novel/challenging situations) and absorption (the disposition to become fully engaged in these interesting situations) (Kashdan, Rose, & Fincham, 2004). These factors have been proposed to broaden the thought–action repertoire by promoting interest in novel/challenging situations and to incrementally build knowledge and well-being in a manner consistent with the Broaden-and-Build Theory (Fredrickson, B. L., 1998). This article reports findings from a study which examined associations between the exploration and absorption components of curiosity and continuous and categorical indices of well-being. Replicating and extending previous findings, the exploration (more so than absorption) component of curiosity exhibited moderate positive associations with measures of well-being. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.
The central thesis of this article is that all gossip involves social comparison. Research on social comparison is applied toward understanding motivations for gossip. In addition, the authors address why gossip tends to be negative and make predictions about factors that trigger especially negative talk about others. Factors such as need for moral information, powerlessness, formation and maintenance of in-groups and out-groups, and situations that bring on perceptions of injustice or feelings of jealousy, envy, and resentment all contribute to malicious gossip. Finally, the morality of gossip is considered, especially as it relates to the misuse or overuse of social comparison. Gossip is purposeful and, perhaps, necessary for healthy social functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The present paper provides a conceptual and empirical examination regarding the relevance of the construct curiosity for work-related outcomes. Based on a review and integration of the literature regarding the construct itself, the construct is conceptually linked with performance in the work context. Using a confirmatory research strategy, a sample (N = 320) with requirements that reflected this conceptual link was chosen. Results from a concurrent validation study confirmed the hypothesis regarding the significance of curiosity for job performance (r = .34). Furthermore, incremental validity of curiosity above twelve cognitive and non-cognitive predictors for job performance suggest that curiosity captures variance in the criterion that is not explained by predictors traditionally used in organizational psychology. It is concluded that curiosity is an important variable for the prediction and explanation of work-related behavior. Furthermore, given the dramatic changes in the world of work, the importance is likely to raise, rather than to decline, which has important implications for organizational theories and applied purposes, like personnel selection.