Does displayed enthusiasm favour recall, intrinsic motivation and time estimation?

ABSTRACT

Displayed enthusiasm has been shown to relate to intrinsic motivation, vitality, and positive affect, but its effects on recall performance and time estimation have not yet been explored. This research aimed at studying the effects of a delivery style characterised by High Enthusiasm (HE) on recall, time estimation, and intrinsic motivation. In line with previous studies, effects on intrinsic motivation were expected. In addition, higher recall and lower time estimations were hypothesised. In two experiments, participants assigned to a HE condition or to a normal reading control condition listened to a narrative and to a descriptive passage. Then, they were asked to rate perceived time, enthusiasm, pleasure, interest, enjoyment and curiosity, before writing a free recall. Experiment 1 showed that in the HE condition, participants recalled more, were more intrinsically motivated, and expressed lower time estimations compared to the control condition. Experiment 2 confirmed the positive effects of HE reading compared to normal reading, using different passages and a larger sample.

KEYWORDS:

• Enthusiasm
• recall
• intrinsic motivation
• positive affect

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank Drs Camilla Campagnari and Elisa Chemello for their help in data collection.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was partially supported by a Grant from the University of Padova.