If it's important, then I’m curious

Increasing perceived usefulness stimulates curiosity

Bibliographic Data

ID21305652
AuthorsRachit Dubey (0000-0001-8216-1999, Princeton University, corresponding author), Thomas L Griffiths (0000-0002-5138-7255, Princeton University), Tania Lombrozo (0000-0001-5637-1431, Princeton University)
Year2022
Volume226
Pages105193
Publication date2022-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCognition (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0010-0277 • E-ISSN: 1873-7838
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105193
PMID35696871
OpenAlexW4281680809
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited43

Curiosity is considered essential for learning and sustained engagement, yet stimulating curiosity in educational contexts remains a challenge. Can people's curiosity about a scientific topic be stimulated by providing evidence that knowledge about the topic has potential value to society? Here, we show that increasing perceptions of 'social usefulness' regarding a scientific topic also increases curiosity and subsequent information search. Our results also show that simply presenting interesting facts is not enough to influence curiosity, and that people are more likely to be curious about a scientific topic if they perceive it to be useful personally and socially. Given the link between curiosity and learning, these results have important implications for science communication and education more broadly

Curiosity · Epistemology · Perception · Value (mathematics) · Computer Science · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Neuroscience · Psychological and Educational Research Studies · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Social Psychology

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