If it weren't for curiosity, many things that are common to us today would never have been discovered. The fact is that the thirst for knowledge moves the world. However, a recently published scientific study pointed out that there may be a dark side of curiosity, which may cause some damage to the mental health.
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Dark side of curiosity and curiosity of deprivation
The study was published in the Journal of Research in Personality in free translation) and introduces some new concepts such as “curiosity of interest” and “curiosity of deprivation".
Regarding the curiosity of interest, the authors define it as that which is related to the will to learn new and different things, generating a feeling of pleasure, which is great in teaching contexts, for example.
On the other hand, the curiosity of deprivation would be linked to the desire to eliminate bad feelings caused by the feeling of uncertainty. This concept was called by the authors of the scientific study the dark side of curiosity.
Deprivation sensitivity – The downside of curiosity
Briefly, deprivation sensitivity occurs when gaps in knowledge are recognized. In this way, many people are extremely restless while they cannot fill in this gap or understand certain phenomena, but this can bring bad feelings.
This kind of curiosity often leads to frustration, as well as causing problems such as errors, confusion, and even lack of humility, but people often remain tirelessly dedicated to solving what is investigating.
The authors point out that the curiosity of interest and the curiosity of deprivation have a certain relationship, although they are different things. Previous research has already shown that these two types of curiosity are related because both share the desire for knowledge as a common characteristic.
Other types of curiosity
In addition to the aforementioned forms, there is, for example, social curiosity, referring to the act of talking, listening and observing how others behave in order to learn what they are doing and thinking. There are also those who have a kind of curiosity motivated by the search for emotions, by knowing risks and the feelings caused by intense moments.