ERIC Number: EJ1466391
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Apr
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0140-1971
EISSN: EISSN-1095-9254
Available Date: 2024-12-20
Distinct Social Factors Are Linked to Epistemic Curiosity and Digital Information-Seeking among Adolescents: Generalizability across 41 Countries
Journal of Adolescence, v97 n3 p787-797 2025
Introduction: Curiosity, the intrinsic motivation to sense, know, and experience the unknown, plays important roles in adolescent achievement and well-being. Theoretical considerations and empirical research suggest the contribution of social relationships in fostering curiosity. However, curiosity is expressed in different forms and contexts. Here, we investigated the social predictors of general epistemic curiosity, and of different forms of digital information-seeking in adolescents. Methods: Nationally representative cross-sectional data from Programme for International Student Assessment 2022 were used (N = 327,778 from 41 countries, 15.8 years, 49.6% female). Multiple regression was implemented using four different types of social relationships--teacher relationship, school belonging, bullying victimization, family relationship--as predictors of three forms of curiosity and information-seeking--general epistemic curiosity, and digital information-seeking for formal learning and for informal learning purposes. Results and Conclusion: Teacher-student relationship was linked to general epistemic curiosity but less so, or not at all, to digital information-seeking. Instead, family relationship and bullying victimization were more important drivers of digital information-seeking for formal and informal learning purposes respectively. These distinctions were largely generalizable across 41 countries examined. The findings paint a complex picture of how figures in different adolescent social spheres matter for different forms of epistemic curiosity and information-seeking, with practical and theoretical implications.
Descriptors: Epistemology, Personality Traits, Achievement, Well Being, Adolescents, Information Seeking, Online Searching, Achievement Tests, Foreign Countries, Secondary School Students, International Assessment, Teacher Student Relationship, Sense of Belonging, Educational Environment, Bullying, Victims of Crime, Family Relationship
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www-wiley-com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Program for International Student Assessment
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Learning Sciences and Assessment, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore