Perceptions of interest: A lens model analysis

Abstract

This study tested recent German theories of the nature of human interest, in which it is hypothesised that individual interest is composed of cognitive, emotional, and value components. Using an idiographic design based on representative sampling of a classroom ecology, 10 judges rated 108 student profiles for the level of actualised interest. The profiles were obtained from 27 random experience samples using 17 cues: level of skill, knowledge, success, familiarity, confidence, concentration, understanding, satisfaction, happiness, excitement, effort, enthusiasm, enjoyment, desire, determination, importance, and extent of freedom. The 27 profiles were presented in four blocks, and judges were reasonably reliable in their 27 judgements with a median inter-trial correlation of 0.83 and a coefficient alpha for the 17 ratings of 0.95. A lens model analysis was used to decompose judgements across repeated situations in order to determine the key components of actualised interest. Lens model parameters such as R squared ranged from 0.94 to 0.55, and cognitive consistency ranged from 0.96 to 0.74. Based on the relative beta weights, the most important indicators of interest were ratings of effort, happiness, desire, familiarity, enthusiasm, importance, and enjoyment. Results supported the emotionality and value components of actualised interest but not the knowledge emphasis in German theories.