Unraveling the contextuality of adolescents’ interest pursuits in daily life: four latent configurations

While interest pursuits are widely recognized as being inherently contextual, what this contextuality entails for different interests has not been explored systematically. In this study, 410 adolescents reported on the temporal, epistemic, material, geographical, social, institutional, and cultural...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of psychology of education 2024-03, Vol.39 (1), p.105-127
Main Authors: Beek, Gregorius J., Bronkhorst, Larike H., Akkerman, Sanne F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activities of daily living
Adolescents
Astronomers
Case studies
Children & youth
Cognitive Structures
Education
Educational Psychology
Epistemology
Family (Sociological Unit)
Formal organization
Knowledge
Museums
Opportunities
Pedagogic Psychology
Teenagers
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Summary:While interest pursuits are widely recognized as being inherently contextual, what this contextuality entails for different interests has not been explored systematically. In this study, 410 adolescents reported on the temporal, epistemic, material, geographical, social, institutional, and cultural dimensions of 820 interest pursuits. Latent class analyses identified four interest pursuit configurations, revealing quantitative (overall high/low structure) and qualitative (expertise- and social-oriented) differences. We observed similar interests being pursued in the same configuration, but also identified individual differences, reflecting the social–historical meaning and object characteristics of interests, as well as adolescents’ preferences and structural opportunities. The findings show that interest entails more than a preference for an object, but also a preference for a wider configuration, which should be considered when designing (educational) contexts to stimulate adolescents’ interest.
ISSN:0256-2928
1878-5174
DOI:10.1007/s10212-023-00684-7