Measuring epistemic curiosity and its diversive and specific components

A questionnaire constructed to assess epistemic curiosity (EC) and perceptual curiosity (PC) curiosity was administered to 739 undergraduates (546 women, 193 men) ranging in age from 18 to 65. The study participants also responded to the trait anxiety, anger, depression, and curiosity scales of the State-Trait Personality Inventory (STPI; Spielberger et al., 1979) and selected subscales of the Sensation Seeking (SSS; Zuckerman, Kolin, Price, & Zoob, 1964) and Novelty Experiencing (NES; Pearson, 1970) scales. Factor analyses of the curiosity items with oblique rotation identified EC and PC factors with clear simple structure. Subsequent analyses of the EC items provided the basis for developing an EC scale, with Diversive and Specific Curiosity subscales. Moderately high correlations of the EC scale and subscales with other measures of curiosity provided strong evidence of convergent validity. Divergent validity was demonstrated by minimal correlations with trait anxiety and the sensation-seeking measures, and essentially zero correlations with the STPI trait anger and depression scales. Male participants had significantly higher scores on the EC scale and the NES External Cognition subscale (effect sizes of r =.16 and.21, respectively), indicating that they were more interested than female participants in solving problems and discovering how things work. Male participants also scored significantly higher than female participants on the SSS Thrill-and-Adventure and NES External Sensation subscales (r =.14 and.22, respectively), suggesting that they were more likely to engage in sensation-seeking activities.     

Curiosity about people: the development of a social curiosity measure in adults

Curiosity refers to the desire for acquiring new information. The aim of this study was to develop a questionnaire to assess social curiosity, that is, interest in how other people think, feel, and behave. The questionnaire was administered to 312 participants. Factor analyses of the 10-item Social Curiosity Scale (SCS) yielded 2 factors: General Social Curiosity and Covert Social Curiosity. Evidence of convergent validity was provided by moderately high correlations of the SCS with other measures of curiosity and self-perceived curiosity, whereas discriminant validity was demonstrated by low correlations of the SCS with other personality traits, such as neuroticism and agreeableness. Of interest, social interaction anxiety was observed to facilitate covert social curiosity while inhibiting general social curiosity.     

The measurement of curiosity as a feeling of deprivation

Curiosity as a feeling of deprivation (CFD) reflects feelings of uncertainty and tension that motivate information-seeking and problem-solving behavior. Twenty-seven CFD items were administered to 321 participants (248 women, 73 men) along with other measures of curiosity and other personality traits such as anxiety, anger, and depression. Factor analyses of the CFD items identified 3 factors from which 5-item subscales were developed: (a) a need to feel competent, (b) intolerance experienced when information is inaccessible or inadequate, and (c) a sense of urgency to solve problems. Moderately high correlations of the CFD scales with other measures of curiosity provided evidence of convergent validity, whereas divergent validity was demonstrated by minimal correlations of the CFD scales with the other personality traits.     

Two faces of narcissism

The present study examines the lack of strong correlations among existing self-report measures of narcissism. A principal-components analysis of 6 MMPI narcissism scales resulted in 2 orthogonal factors, 1 implying Vulnerability-Sensitivity and the other Grandiosity-Exhibitionism. Although unrelated to each other, these 2 factors were associated with such core features of narcissism as conceit, self-indulgence, and disregard of others. Despite this common core, however, Vulnerability-Sensitivity was associated with introversion, defensiveness, anxiety, and vulnerability to life's traumas, whereas Grandiosity-Exhibitionism was related to extraversion, self-assurance, exhibitionism, and aggression. Three alternative interpretations of these results are considered, and an argument for the distinction between covert and overt narcissism is made.     

Standardizing Measures of Religiosity for Norwegians

Although the literature is replete with measures of religiosity developed for other cultures (cf. Batson & Ventis, 1982), heretofore there has existed no scale of proven applicability to Norwegians. This study attempted to meet that need by assessing some of the psychometric properties of a 358-item questionnaire on a Norwegian sample of 471 self-identified Christians. Initially two sources for scale items were identified: unique Norwegian traditions arising out of a dominant Lutheran culture, and scales in the literature standardized in other cultures. Of special interest was the question of whether scales developed in other cultures would evidence similar psychometric properties among Norwegians. In general, the internal consistency of the included scales was satisfactory, and the intercorrelations were in the predicted directions. However, the internal consistency of Batson's Quest scale (Batson & Schoenrade, 1991a) did not hold up when translated into Norwegian.     

Norwegian versions of the Living with Asthma Questionnaire (LWAQ) and Asthma Bother Profile (ABP), validation and comparison of two asthma groups

The Living with Asthma Questionnaire (LWAQ) and the Asthma Bother Profile (ABP) were translated into Norwegian using conventional back translation procedures, and completed by 30 asthma outpatients and 30 asthma patients admitted to inpatient rehabilitation. Reliability (Cronbach's alpha and retest-reliability) was shown to be good for both scales. Validity was established by showing significantly poorer health in the rehabilitation sample, and correlations with state and trait anxiety. The Norwegian translations are reliable and valid versions of the original questionnaires.     

Exploring replay value: shifts and continuities in user experiences between first and second exposure to an interactive story

While replay value is a common term in interactive entertainment, psychological research on its meaning in terms of user experiences is sparse. An exploratory experiment using the interactive drama "Fa?ade" was conducted (n=50) to examine shifts and continuities in entertainment-related user experiences between first and second exposure to the same system. A questionnaire with brief scales measuring various user-experience dimensions (interaction-related facets such as usability, flow, and presence, as well as narrative-related facets such as suspense and curiosity) was administered after the first and the second round of exposure. Findings suggest that replay produces gains in action-related experience components such as presence and effectance, whereas narrative-related experiences such as curiosity and suspense remain stable across exposures. Implications for theorizing on interactive entertainment experiences are discussed.     

Most people with mental disorders are happy: A 3-year follow-up in the Dutch general population

The nature of the associations between life satisfaction, anxiety, and depression remains elusive. Using questionnaire data from a large population-based sample (N = 6326) of young adult Norwegian twins (aged 18–31 years) we explored the extent to which latent genetic and environmental factors are (1) common or distinct, and (2) sex-specific. Phenotypic correlations ranged between 0.44 and 0.70 in females, and between 0.41 and 0.69 in males. Environmental influences accounted for 75% of these correlations in females, and less than 50% in males. Genetic and environmental sources of life satisfaction, symptoms of anxiety, and symptoms of depression were shared mostly, but the magnitude of the effects was different in males and females. In both sexes, however, aetiological factors enhancing life satisfaction were simultaneously protecting against feelings of sadness and displeasure, but contributed less to countervailing anxiety and tension.     

A Conceptualization of Entrepreneurial Curiosity and Construct Development: A Multi-Country Empirical Validation

The purpose of this article was to fill a gap in the literature regarding the conceptualization and measurement of entrepreneurial curiosity. Although research in other fields suggest that different types of curiosity exist, no conceptualization research has yet been done in the field of entrepreneurial curiosity. This research aimed to develop a construct of entrepreneurial curiosity and tested it on multi-country empirical samples (Slovenia and the United States). Items for the questionnaire were developed after an in-depth literature review and detailed interviews with entrepreneurs and experts in two stages. The data from the survey were analyzed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The results of this study showed that entrepreneurial curiosity can be an independent construct dimension in relation to other types of curiosity. Entrepreneurial curiosity can be used as a new concept and measure in research. The construct can be tested on a sample of nonentrepreneurs in a multi-country sample and together with other determinants in a future model. With the measure of entrepreneurial curiosity, society can test individuals and encourage them to become active in entrepreneurship.     

Individual psychophysical functions for 28 odorants

Individual scales of odor intensity were obtained for 28 different chemical compounds by the method of magnitude estimation. Eleven Ss participated in an experiment with 196 olfactory stimuli which differed in both quality and intensity. It was found (1) that power functions described the relationship between partial vapor pressure of the odorants and their subjective odor intensity for all Ss, (2) that all exponents were less than one but varied greatly between Ss, (3) that consistent intraindividual differences in the exponents of different odorants exist, and (4) that these are attributable to perceptual differences rather than to response bias.     

The latent structure of trait curiosity: evidence for interest and deprivation curiosity dimensions

To evaluate Litman and Jimerson's (2004) Interest/Deprivation (I/D) model of curiosity, 355 students (269 women, 86 men) responded to 6 trait curiosity measures including the Curiosity/Interest in the World scale (C/IW; Peterson & Seligman, 2004), the Curiosity and Exploration Inventory (CEI; Kashdan, Rose, & Fincham, 2004), the Perceptual Curiosity scale (PC; Collins, Litman, & Spielberger, 2004), the Epistemic Curiosity scale (EC; Litman & Spielberger, 2003), and the Curiosity as a Feeling-of-Deprivation scales (CFD; Litman & Jimerson, 2004). Consistent with expectations, the results of confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that the C/IW, CEI, PC, EC scales defined an Interest (I) curiosity factor, whereas the CFD scales formed a Deprivation (D) curiosity factor. However, as compared to the other interest-based curiosity measures, one of the EC subscales was found to be less differentiated from the CFD scales, presumably because these instruments assess overlapping aspects of Berlyne's (1954) concept of epistemic curiosity. The results of this study indicated that I and D curiosity are related but differentiated curiosity dimensions, providing evidence for the validity of the I/D model.     

Form recognition: Individual strategies in multivariate cue utilization

Twenty-five Ss were each presented 1,250 trials in a form-recognition task requiring S to find a form among 25 other forms on each trial. Fifty different eight-sided randomly derived polygons were used as stimuli, each presented in 25 different problems. Factors based on physical measures of the stimuli were correlated with observed latencies using multiple regression to assess cue-utilization strategies, while beta-weight profiles and intercorrelations of the Ss’ predicted latencies were used as indices of individual differences. Multiple correlations of physical-factor scores with observed latencies accounted for a significant proportion of the variance for all Ss, while between-S correlations of predicted latencies were never below .90. By all criteria employed, use of stimulus information was highly consistent among Ss. Replication of the experiment for one S revealed good reliability and nearly identical strategies.     

Instrumental and expressive representations of aggression: One scale or two?

The Expagg questionnaire was developed to measure a subject's view of their own aggression as a relatively instrumental or relatively expressive act. Two issues have been raised pertaining to the dimensional structure of the questionnaire: the use of principal components analysis on dichotomous responses and the possibility that instrumental and expressive representations might be independent dimensions rather than opposite ends of a single continuum. In study 1, dichotomous Expagg data from 405 subjects were subjected to microfact, principal components, and factor analysis. Each produced a first general factor, and the correlations between the item loadings were in excess of r = .99. In study 2, a 40‐item Likert scale version of Expagg was given to 295 subjects. Principal components analysis, paired item correlations, and subscale correlations suggested partial independence of instrumental and expressive items. Two new 8‐item scales measuring instrumental and expressive representations were constructed that maximise their independence. Potential uses of these revised scales are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 25:435–444, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Intrapersonal curiosity: Inquisitiveness about the inner self

Intrapersonal Curiosity (InC) involves inquisitively introspecting to better understand one’s inner self. A pool of 39 face-valid InC items was administered to 1005 participants, along with other curiosity, personality, self-awareness, self-regulation, and psychological well-being scales. Three InC factors with good model fit were identified, from which four-item (α ≥ .89) subscales were developed: “Understanding one’s Emotions and Motives,” “Reflecting On one’s Past,” and “Exploring one’s Identity and Purpose.” InC correlated positively with other measures of curiosity, evidencing convergence; weak correlations to conceptually unrelated constructs demonstrated divergence. Higher InC scores corresponded to perceptions of having less available self-knowledge, heightened sensitivity to others’ expressions, a greater tendency to privately introspect, increased distress, and more concern about how to best cope with worry over self-relevant threats.     

Affect, personality, and social activity.

These studies examined relations between social activity and state and trait measures of Positive and Negative Affect. In Study 1 Ss completed scales relevant to 3-factor models of personality and a weekly mood and social activity questionnaire for 13 weeks. In Study 2 Ss completed measures of the 5-factor model of personality and a daily mood and social activity survey for 6-7 weeks. In within- and between-Ss analyses, socializing correlated significantly with state measures of Positive Affect and with trait measures of Extraversion/Positive Emotionality. These relations were relatively general across various types of positive affect and social events; however, specific types of social events also were differentially related to affect. In contrast, social activity had no consistent association with measures of Negative Affect or the other personality dimensions. The results support a temperamental view of Extraversion.     

Interrelations of perceptual reports of smell,taste and irritance over the near-threshold range,for members of the N-aliphatic monohydric alcohol series

Many compounds are psychophysically complex because they stimulate all three chemical senses; smell, taste, and irritance.3 Interrelations among these three modalities are reported over the near-threshold range, and comparisons are made for three such compounds; methanol, ethanol, and propanol. Eighteen Ss were tested over 16 sessions each under a range of conditions: a combined task condition that approximated normal drinking, in which thresholds for all three modalities were determined simultaneously, and three conditions, in each of which only one threshold in one modality was determined. Pooled results over Ss gave significant shifts in olfactory thresholds between conditions, whereas changes in gustatory and irritant acuity were less marked. Individual results yielded significant correlations between psychophysical behavior and personality measures. Factor analysis of Ss indicated the existence of subgroups of Ss, each typified by different patterns of relative sensitivity over modalities and over alcohols.     

The development of a short form of the JEPQ (JEPQ-S): Its use in measuring personality and religion

A short form of the JEPQ, consisting of four scales of six items each, is developed from the JEPQ. The properties of this short questionnaire, its correlations with the parent longer questionnaire and the relationship between both short and long forms of the questionnaire and religiosity are explored among 181 15- and 16-year olds. The short questionnaire is recommended as a functional equivalent to the JEPQ in certain contexts.     

Personality and curiosity about morbid and sexual events

The study was designed to examine the relationships of sensation seeking, extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism traits with an interest in presentations of violent or morbid and sexual events in the media and in live sports. Scales of curiosity about morbid and sexual events and self-ratings of attendance of horror and X-rated erotic movies were developed and given to 89 male and 213 female undergraduates along with the personality scales. Males scored higher than females on both types of curiosity and film attendance scales as well as on the SSS and P scale. The SSS and P scale correlated positively with curiosity scales and sensation seeking also correlated with film attendance of both types of films. A new hypothesis suggests that high sensation seekers are interested in stimuli that increase activity in central catecholamine systems. Past research has demonstrated that violent, fear-provoking and erotic films increase peripheral catecholamines.     

LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOR AND EFFECTIVENESS OF BEAUTY SALON MANAGERS

A field study was conducted in a chain of beauty salons to determine how the leadership behavior of salon managers is related to managerial effectiveness. Leadership behavior was measured with a new questionnaire that was filled out anonymously by subordinates. Strong correlations were found between some of the leadership scales and salon profits, sales increase, performance ratings, subordinate satisfaction, and role ambiguity. The results were consistent with managerial role requirements derived from an analysis of the leadership situation.     

Incurious motives to seek information about potential threats

In Study 1, 20 incurious worry reduction motive (IWRM) items were administered to 280 participants along with curiosity and worry scales. With factor analysis, two six‐item scales were developed: focus on distress (IWRM‐FD) and focus on relief (IWRM‐FR). IWRM‐FD was associated with wanting positive news about threats, whereas IWRM‐FR was related to wanting negative news to be free from further worry. Neither the curiosity nor worry scales predicted wanting information. In Study 2, the IWRM scales were administered to 170 participants along with a coping inventory. IWRM‐FD correlated with avoidant‐coping, whereas IWRM‐FR was associated positively with active‐coping and advice‐seeking. The results suggest that IWRM‐FD reflects a desire to minimize distress, whereas IWRM‐FR motivates identifying and dealing directly with problems. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.