Curiosity, Self-Control, and the Demonstration of Non-Spuriousness

• In Event: New Advances in Predictors and Consequences of Self & Social Control

Abstract

Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (1990) A General Theory of Crime has been empirically supported so strongly that it has been called the “tyrannosaurus rex” of all criminological theories (Delisi, 2011, p. 103). However, research has also demonstrated that other variables continue to account for unique amounts of variance in crime/deviance measures beyond self-control’s main effect (e.g., differential associations, delinquent attitudes, morality). In this paper, it is proposed that curiosity may be another one of those additional causes of crime/deviance. Theoretically, curiosity may work in a similar manner as low self-control in that curiouser individuals may also weigh more heavily the immediate benefits of their actions than their distal consequences; therefore, they may also have the tendency to succumb to the temptations of the moment. The effects of variables that account for significant variance in crime/deviance measures beyond self-control are indirectly controlled for with an original 12 item “desire to control ‘low self-control’” scale. Data was derived from a convenience sample of college students. Findings demonstrate that curiosity significantly predicts a crime/deviance measure, controlling for the effects of self-control and the desire to control low self-control. Curiosity appears to have a true causal effect on the crime/deviance decision-making process.

Author

• Bruce J. Arneklev, Florida Atlantic University