> Is curiosity a desire to gain knowledge? Is it a desire to see if you are right or wrong? Is it a drive to test existing hypotheses? Is it a motivation sparked by novelty or uncertainty?
It would be odd to describe it as an emotional motivation and not a behaviour.
I'd say the behaviour is a pursuit of not immediately necessary information. The subject is drawn to unravel unknowns in their environment. It might be broadly focussed to flip every stone or narrow to a subject e.g. people or a topic.
The various motivations for this behaviour probably encompasses all human motivations. It might be delight/entertainment/play of discovery, collector/completionist type obsession, fear/anxiety/pessimism/paranoia of unknowns, ego preservation to be the "one who knows", procrastination in the face of aversive tasks...
It would be odd to describe it as an emotional motivation and not a behaviour.
I'd say the behaviour is a pursuit of not immediately necessary information. The subject is drawn to unravel unknowns in their environment. It might be broadly focussed to flip every stone or narrow to a subject e.g. people or a topic.
The various motivations for this behaviour probably encompasses all human motivations. It might be delight/entertainment/play of discovery, collector/completionist type obsession, fear/anxiety/pessimism/paranoia of unknowns, ego preservation to be the "one who knows", procrastination in the face of aversive tasks...