Thematic analysis reveals six core dimensions and personality traits in renowned curious individuals, highlighting key mechanisms for nurturing lifelong curiosity.
A set of six themes and their categories was identified through thematic analysis of narrative portraits based on in-depth interviews with 27 highly curious individuals who varied in age, gender, ethnicity, and profession. Each theme and its components (categories) are depicted, along with typical quotes from individuals assigned to the category. Curiosity was conceptualized using the five-dimensional model (5-DC) comprising Joyous Exploration; Deprivation Sensitivity; Stress/Uncertainty Tolerance; Social Curiosity (overt and covert); and Thrill Seeking. Additionally, the study addressed personality traits subsumed under the Big Five model (specifically, traits related to Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness). It also included agency, self-regulation, self-efficacy, quest for freedom, resilience, grit, flexibility, and creativity. The findings are discussed in relation to the validity of the interview data in general and the identified themes in particular. The authors address implications for nurturing curious minds.
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Birenbaum et al. (2026) studied this question.
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