The link between curiosity and good grades is obvious; individuals with higher curiosity levels ask more questions and receive more answers, resulting in a greater storage of knowledge. Recently a study has shown that high curiosity levels can also have a positive effect on one's personal life.
UB stands at the forefront in this area of research, as a clinical and social psychology doctoral student at UB, Todd D. Kashdan, conducted the study. Kashdan's specialization in the "positive psychology" field of psychology gave way to his breakthrough research in how high levels of curiosity can positively affect interpersonal relationships.
"The foundation of the study was to get an in-depth look at the trait levels of curiosity," said Kashdan. "The level at which most people tend to seek out and explore novel and challenging experiences."
The study used 90 volunteers from UB's student population, 45 males and 45 females. The volunteers were paired into opposite sex couples and encouraged to ask and answer a list of predetermined questions.
During the 45-minute interaction sessions, some couples were given questions that were not of a personal nature. These questions were intended to imitate basic small talk. Other couples were given questions that would require more personal answers and an intimate setting.
The study found individuals with low curiosity levels, though they felt a high level of closeness during the intimate setting, were more affected by the environment, while individuals found to have high curiosity levels were unaffected by the environment.
"Individuals with low curiosity levels needed to be put in an enriching environment to have positive interpersonal experiences," said Kashdan. "While those found to have high curiosity levels experienced a high level of closeness irrespective of small talk and environment."
Courtney Greene, a junior international business major, believes that small talk is necessary when first meeting someone but does not necessarily agree with Kashdan's results.
"I consider myself a curious person; I like to follow up on things that interest me, but I'm generally more of a small talk person. You can't really talk to someone you just met about personal things, so I really don't think I would feel close to someone in 45 minutes even though I am curious by nature," said Greene.
During post-experiment questions many of the volunteers said that physical attractiveness did play a part in how close they felt to their partners, according to Kashdan.
Alex Vanmarter, a freshman biophysics major, said in her interactions physical attraction does not play a big role.
"Honestly, attraction really isn't a factor in how I feel about people after initial conversations. If I get along with people, it's all based on personality," said Vanmarter.
Kashdan said the decision to put the couples into opposite sex pairs was in an attempt to also study the possibility that romantic union could be formed.
"Though the primary focus of this experiment was to examine curiosity traits and its effect on interpersonal relationships, it was also a pilot for a possibly upcoming study about the possible antecedents to romantic attraction," said Kashdan.
Kashdan's study in curiosity traits and his possible future study about romantic attraction are among the few studies in psychology that focus on developing the positive in humans.
"In 1997, the ratio of studies in psychopathology to positive psychology was five to one. If so much can be invested into studying the negatives of the human psyche, why not invest in researching and helping to cultivate the positive," said Kashdan.
Kashdan said he believes in building from the basics of satisfaction instead of simply attempting to make everyone satisfactory.
"Studies in psychopathology focus on treating people from the negative end of the mental spectrum, say negative three, or negative five and bringing them to a neutral level zero," said Kashdan. "Why stop there? Why not take them to a positive two or positive five? That is the focus of positive psychology. Why only bring people to neutral, when we can bring them to excellent."
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
