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Confused or curious? Openness/intellect predicts more positive interest-confusion relations
Kirill Fayn1, Paul J Silvia2, Egon Dejonckheere1
1Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
|July 2, 2019
Summary
People high in openness/intellect show greater interest in complex situations, even when confusing. This personality trait is linked to curiosity towards confusing information, enhancing learning and engagement with complex topics.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Cognitive Science
- Personality Psychology
Background:
- Openness/intellect is associated with interest in complex and novel situations.
- The relationship between interest and confusion during learning is not well understood.
- Individual differences in the interest-confusion relationship are largely unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the within-person relationship between interest and confusion.
- To determine if openness/intellect is characterized by more positive interest-confusion relations.
- To explore individual differences in how interest and confusion co-occur.
Main Methods:
- Five studies (N=640) examined interest-confusion relations in response to diverse stimuli (art, science, lectures, poetry, problem-solving).
- Participants' interest and confusion were measured in relation to complex and novel information.
- Statistical analyses assessed the correlation between openness/intellect and the within-person interest-confusion relationship.
Main Results:
- Openness/intellect was consistently associated with more positive interest-confusion relations across studies.
- Individual differences in interest-confusion relations ranged from highly negative to highly positive.
- No other personality domain or intelligence measure showed a consistent relationship with interest-confusion dynamics.
Conclusions:
- Openness/intellect may be characterized by a curiosity towards confusing situations.
- This finding highlights a new phenomenological aspect of being open.
- Results suggest openness/intellect enhances sensitivity to the value of complex information, aiding engagement and learning.
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