Internal control beliefs enhance curiosity via hedonic and instrumental motives

Classic psychological theories propose that internal control beliefs, the perception that events are controllable, play a crucial role in fostering curiosity and exploratory behavior. However, previous studies have rarely manipulated control beliefs directly or examined the motivational mechanisms through which they promote curiosity. Across five experiments using a within-subject design (N = 207), we experimentally manipulated participants' internal control beliefs to test whether they promote curiosity about outcomes and to identify three motivational pathways through which curiosity may be fostered: anticipation of positive affect from outcomes (hedonic pathway), reduction of uncertainty (cognitive pathway), and instrumental utility (instrumental pathway). We found that internal control beliefs robustly enhanced curiosity (Experiments 1A, 1B, 2, 3, and 4). Moreover, this effect was mediated by increased anticipated positive affect (Experiment 2) and increased subjective instrumental utility (Experiment 4), supporting the hedonic and instrumental pathways. Although subjective uncertainty also showed an indirect effect in Experiment 3, this effect was not in the direction predicted by the cognitive value pathway. Together, these findings indicate that internal control beliefs enhance curiosity primarily through hedonic and instrumental pathways, with limited support for the cognitive pathway. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).