Curiosity and Interest in Interpersonal Interactions (2012)

Undergraduates: Jana Lembke, Tanya Vacharkulksemsuk

Faculty Advisor: Barbara Fredrickson
Department: Psychology & Neuroscience

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Because curiosity motivates us to seek out and interact with new, meaningful experiences, including social interactions, it is promising as a catalyst for relationship development. In the present study, we investigate the role of trait curiosity and the emotion of interest in generating connectedness between same-sex strangers in a dyadic interaction. We explore empirically- and theoretically-derived verbal and nonverbal interest behaviors as potential mediators in the relationship between curiosity and interaction quality. We found that both self-reported interest and behavioral interest significantly predicted high-quality connections between interactants, and in some cases, reductions in interaction maintenance. We also found support that brow raises mediate the relationship between curiosity and high-quality connections. Implications of findings and future research directions are discussed.