Lecture 5: curiosity traits and curiosity-based exploration Flashcards
What types of curiosity are there?
State vs trait
(state = short lived, temporary states / trait = stable personality characteristic)
Epistemic, perceptual, morbid, social
Two dimensions:
Diversive: exploratory, interest based (associated with +ve affect)
Specific: deprivation based (associated with -ve affect)
What is the epistemic curiosity scale?
It is a 10 item curiosity scale which differentiates:
Interest-type: associated with positive affect
- about enjoyment
Deprivation-type: associated with negative affect
- about problems, less epistemic, and sense of urgency
What is the perceptual curiosity scale?
It measures diverse perceptual curiosity (aligns with diverse, about enjoying problem-solving) and specific perceptual curiosity (aligned with deprivation, specific about the senses
What is perceptual curiosity?
It involves seeking both knowledge and sensory experience
What did Ryashovskavas et al study?
They looked to see whether interest vs deprivation curiosity (trait) interact with the experience during states of curiosity
Ryashovskavas study design
Ppts rated how curious, interested, frustrated, and bothered they felt following the trivia paradigm
CAI = curiosity as interest (correlated with feelings of interest)
CAD = curiosity as deprivation (correlated with feelings of being frustrated and bothered)
They then had to pay time = this was the curiosity measured used
- CAI correlated with time pay: seems this is the key driver in curiosity
Kashdan 5DC study aim
The goal was to synthesise various strands of curiosity from the social sciences to create a single comprehensive measure
What are the 2 key appraisals in curiosity according to Kasdhan?
- Does the person view an event as having potential for novelty, complexity, uncertainty or unfamiliarity = attention-grabbing?
- Can they sufficiently cope/manage the -eve emotions that arise from exploring new, complex, and uncertain territory?
What did Kasdhan do in study 1?
Reviewed existing theories to generate items to capture the bandwidth of curiosity:
Ppts completed a preliminary pool of 103 curiosity items - used factor analysis method - ignored those which
Results: 5 related, but independent dimensions of curiosity: Joyous Exploration, Social Curiosity, Stress Tolerance, Deprivation Sensitivity, and Thrill Seeking.
What did Kasdhan do in study 2?
In Study 1, Social Curiosity and Thrill Seeking items did not perform as well as items from other
dimensions, added 25 items related
Revised the instrument whilst including a broad range of existing curiosity related measures of incides of adaptive and maladaptive functioning
What did Kashdan find in study 2?
There was a strong convergence with existing, empirically supported, curiosity related scales meaning each dimension measured what it was supposed to = construct validity
People w/ greater dispositional curiosity = higher probability of pleasurable and meaningful moments in their life.
The results in the current study offer nuances to prior
work by showing that Joyous Exploration and Stress Tolerance appear to be the curiosity dimensions most relevant to well-being
People w/ greater deprivation sensitivity = seeking info to escape the tension of not knowing something
What does Kashdan study 2 results mean?
the type of curiosity matters in understanding the occurrence of well-being.
What did Kashdan do in study 3?
Wanted to determine meaningful profiles of curiosity
3000 survey responses - person-centred NOT curiosity-centred approach based on 5 curiosity dimensions
Focus was on how different types of curious people use their most valuable resources in daily life (money, time and effort)
What did Kashdan find in study 3?
Evidence of 4 meaningful types of curious people = differed in daily life activity
What were the 4 profiles of curiosity found in Kashdan study?
- the fascinated
- Problem solvers
- Empathisers
- Avoiders (non curious)
Characteristics of the fascinated
Highly curious
Highly educated and makes most money
Extraverted, value in social justice
Does not get stressed
Widest range of interest and expertise
Spends their attention, energy and money on magazines and website
Characteristics of the problem solvers
High deprivation sensitivity, stress tolerance and low social curiosity
E.g obsessively finishes a crossword puzzle on their own
Endorses independence - does not spend time talking about issues with friends
Characteristics of the Empathisers
High level of social curiosity
Lower levels of stress tolerance, thrill seeking
More women
Neurotic and stressed
spends a lot of time on social media
Maintaining social status is important
Characteristics of the avoiders
Lowest on every curiosity dimension
- least educated and makes the least amount of money
1/2 are not employed full time
Low on: extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness
High neuroticism and stress
Least passions
Strengths of Kashdan study
- Unlike other curiosity measures (e.g Litman scale), the 5DC explicitly measures the second part of appraisals (do people have the capacity to handle the stress which comes from tacking a highly curious question?)
- Improves wording, reading level and specificity 9easier to understand
- Stronger test of social curiosity
- Used a representative sample from a broad range of adult populations and a wide range of curiosity, personality and wellbeing = construct validity
Weaknesses of Kashdan study
Relied on self-report
Data cannot be applied to those outside the USA
Could argue that thrill-seeking is not actually part of curiosity
