Curiosity and Interest in the Moment

Curiosity and interest in the moment: Their networks and demarcations

Dr. Xin Tang, Dr. Jari Lavonen, Dr. Katariina Salmela-Aro

Faculty of Educational Science, University of Helsinki, Finland

Abstract

The demarcation between curiosity and interest is gathering more attention and discussions. Is curiosity synonymous as interest, or do they have some crucial differences? To address this problem, on the one hand, we need studies that examine these two concepts at the situational level, while on the other hand, we need an analytical method that goes beyond the conventional correlation analysis. The purpose of this study was to examine the differences between curiosity and interest using co-occurrence network analysis based on experience sampling data. By comparing the differences between curiosity networks and interest networks, we were able to determine to which extent and aspect that curiosity is distinct from interest. Fifty-nine first-year high school students from the Helsinki PIRE project were assessed by ESM over a period of two weeks. They received 3–4 signals randomly per day (at least once when they had science lessons), and were asked to report academic emotions and motivations when they received the alert. The results showed that when interest occurred, feelings of enjoyment, control, success, importance to self, and concentration were the top five co-occurring motivations. Curiosity only occurred at a probability of 0.54. However, when curiosity occurred, feelings of interest (prob = .88), control, enjoyment, inquisitiveness, and meeting self-expectations typically occurred at the same time. The disequilibrium association between curiosity and interest and its implications will be discussed.