What Can Attitude Research Tell Us about Individual Interest? Relationship(s) between Self-Reported Interest and Behavior

• In Event: Interest Development and Its Relation to Academic Motivation

Abstract

Academically motivated students typically engage in their schoolwork and earn good grades. However, formal education is not an end in itself but a foundation for further development. It is important to consider the motivation that leads individuals to select activities that support intellectual growth beyond formal instruction, and individual interest is central to this motivation.

Self-report measures of interest are often used under the assumption that they would predict free-choice behavior, if measured. However, this assumption is often untested. This research examined the links between interest and free-choice behavior, and tested whether research on attitudes can inform these links.

Attitude researchers have demonstrated stronger attitude-behavior links when assessing attitudes along multiple dimensions (Ajzen & Gilbert Cote, 2008; Visser et al., 2003). We applied a similar strategy to interest because some similarities exist between attitudes and interest. As with interest, attitudes function at the intersection between an individual and the environment, and involve affective, cognitive, and behavioral components (Breckler, 1984). Attitude components that are also prominent in interest theory include emotional evaluation, importance/meaning, and knowledge (Hidi & Renninger, 2006; Krapp, 1999; Schiefele, 1991). Several other components of attitudes are not prominent in the interest research. Specifically, attitude strength (intensity), accessibility (ease with which it comes to mind), and certainty (conviction) contribute to the accuracy with which attitudes predict behavior (Eagly & Chaiken, 1998; Fazio & Zanna, 1978; Glasman & Dolores, 2006; Miller & Peterson, 2004).

In two studies, introductory psychology students (N Study 1=142, N Study 2=155) self-reported their affective interest in psychology, and the knowledge, importance, certainty, strength, and accessibility of their psychology-related attitudes. Participants the had free-choice opportunities to explore content related to psychology. In both studies, participants could request information about up to 12 psychology topics. In Study 2, at the end of the session, participants were also given the option to watch several short psychology-related video clips or end the session. The number of topics selected and video clips watched were behavioral measures of interest.

The data were analyzed using multiple regression, in which the components of interest/attitudes were used to predict behavior (topics and videos). The affective measure of interest was entered first (Step 1), importance and knowledge were entered second (Step 2), and then strength, accessibility, and certainty were entered individually (Step 3). In both studies, affective interest positively predicted the number of topics (βs>26, ps<.01), and when added, so did importance (βs>27, ps<.05). When the specific attitude measures were added, accessibility uniquely predicted topics (β>.31, p<.01, Study 1). When predicting videos (Study 2), affective interest, importance, and knowledge were not significant, but both accessibility (β>.31, p<.01,) and strength (β>.49, p<.01,) predicted the number of videos.

These results suggest that self-reported measures of interest may be better predictors of behavior if they capture the accessibility and intensity with which individuals experience interest. Further research should be done to understand the different effects observed in relation to different behaviors.

Authors

• Amanda Marie Durik, Northern Illinois University

• Jade S. Jenkins, Northern Illinois University