Implicit Theories of Interest: Finding Your Passion or Developing It? - PubMed (original) (raw)

Implicit Theories of Interest: Finding Your Passion or Developing It?

Paul A O'Keefe et al. Psychol Sci. 2018 Oct.

Abstract

People are often told to find their passion, as though passions and interests are preformed and must simply be discovered. This idea, however, has hidden motivational implications. Five studies examined implicit theories of interest-the idea that personal interests are relatively fixed (fixed theory) or developed (growth theory). Whether assessed or experimentally induced, a fixed theory was more likely to dampen interest in areas outside people's existing interests (Studies 1-3). Individuals endorsing a fixed theory were also more likely to anticipate boundless motivation when passions were found, not anticipating possible difficulties (Study 4). Moreover, when it became difficult to engage in a new interest, interest flagged significantly more for people induced to hold a fixed rather than a growth theory of interest (Study 5). Urging people to find their passion may lead them to put all their eggs in one basket but then to drop that basket when it becomes difficult to carry.

Keywords: implicit self-theories; interest; motivation; open data; open materials; passion; preregistered; social cognition.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared that there were no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship or the publication of this article.

Figures

Fig. 1.

Fig. 1.

Students’ mean rating of interest in the articles that matched and mismatched their techy- or fuzzy-interest identity as a function of their theory of interest (Study 1). Fixed and growth theories of interest are plotted at 1 standard deviation below and above the mean, respectively. The analysis controlled for techy- and fuzzy-interest identities and openness to experience as well as their interactions with article type. The interest scale ranged from 1 to 7. Error bars represent standard errors.

Fig. 2.

Fig. 2.

Students’ mean rating of interest in the articles that matched and mismatched their techy- or fuzzy-interest identity as a function of their theory of interest (Study 2). The analysis controlled for techy- and fuzzy-interest identities, openness to experience, and implicit theories of intelligence, as well as their interactions with article type. Fixed and growth theories of interest are plotted at 1 standard deviation below and above the mean, respectively. The interest scale ranged from 1 to 7. Error bars represent standard errors.

Fig. 3.

Fig. 3.

Students’ mean rating of interest in article topics that matched and mismatched their techy- or fuzzy-interest identity, separately for each theory-of-interest condition (Study 3). The analysis controlled for techy- and fuzzy-interest identity strength. The interest scale ranged from 1 to 7. Error bars represent standard errors.

Fig. 4.

Fig. 4.

Predicted probability that students endorsed the ideas (a) that passions provide limitless motivation and (b) that pursuing passions will be difficult at times, given their theory of interest (Study 4). Fixed and growth theories of interest are plotted at 1 standard deviation below and above the mean, respectively.

Fig. 5.

Fig. 5.

Students’ mean rating of interest in black holes after reading an article about them as a function of reported difficulty understanding the article and students’ theory of interest (Study 5). Low and high reported difficulty are plotted at 1 standard deviation below and above the mean, respectively. The analysis controlled for interest in black holes after watching the video. The interest scale ranged from 1 to 7. Error bars represent standard errors.

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