Curiosity and well-being

Recent conceptualizations of curiosity have identified two underlying factors that together represent trait curiosity: exploration (the disposition to seek out novel/challenging situations) and absorption (the disposition to become fully engaged in these interesting situations) (Kashdan, Rose, & Fincham, 2004). These factors have been proposed to broaden the thought–action repertoire by promoting interest in novel/challenging situations and to incrementally build knowledge and well-being in a manner consistent with the Broaden-and-Build Theory (Fredrickson, B. L., 1998). This article reports findings from a study which examined associations between the exploration and absorption components of curiosity and continuous and categorical indices of well-being. Replicating and extending previous findings, the exploration (more so than absorption) component of curiosity exhibited moderate positive associations with measures of well-being. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

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