Science of Wellbeing: How Can Curiosity Protect Us?

Understanding Curiosity & Meaning in Life

Many helping professionals are reminded, and at times required, to remain curious. Between CEUs and trainings, helping professionals are constantly being made to learn and increase their knowledge. But how could curiosity impact them in their personal lives?  The latest article in our Science of Wellbeing series, The Protective Role of Curiosity Behaviors and Coping with Existential Vacuum, attempts to bridge potential connections between curiosity and meaning in life (Gawda & Korniluk, 2024). curiosity is up for examination.

Details of Study

Within this study researchers surveyed 484 people and their relationship with meaning in life. This idea of meaning in life was separated into three different elements: purpose, comprehension, and mattering. Another major area was curiosity behaviors. The researchers look at these curiosity behaviors as a combination of attempting to acquire new knowledge and being comfortable with the unpredictability of life. The researchers also examined a host of other variables that they believed made influence meaning in life including distress, flourishing, and emotional regulation. The following definitions were helpful:

·       Meaning in Life-Comprehension: Does the unfolding of their life makes sense?

·       Curiosity Behaviors: Both willingness to seek out new knowledge and accept unpredictability of life.

·       Flourishing: Competence and self-acceptance

·       Distress: Stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms

The Role of Curiosity in Meaning

There were three large overall findings within the study. The first was that curiosity did indeed impact a person's meaning in life. They found that the more curious a person was the higher their meaning and life was. Additionally, when accounting for the idea of flourishing the relationship between curiosity and meaning in life became stronger. Ultimately the role of flourishing in finding meaning in life was to strengthen the relationship between curiosity and meaning.

The second major finding was that curiosity impacted meaning in life while accounting for emotional regulation. The last major finding was specific to one of the elements in meaning of life, comprehension. They found that curiosity impacted comprehension and when accounting for the idea of distress, that relationship shifted. Meaning the researchers found that people who have more curiosity behaviors tended to have lower levels of distress. And people who had lower levels of distress tended to have higher levels of meaning in life.

Personal Development of Helpers and Curiosity

These findings are important for health and professionals for several reasons. For many involved in helping professions there is likely a requirement to be trained on new and novel approaches to your area of expertise. Engaging in those opportunities or additional trainings could indeed have an impact on meaning in your own life. These findings also speak to the importance of being open to new understandings of the world around us and having a sense of competence, like with the idea of flourishing. Adding to one's own knowledge arsenal can bring about benefits both personally and professionally.

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