A new study published in the Journal of Research in Personality reveals how curiosity can help alleviate feelings of uncertainty and anxiety. Curiosity can be divided into two categories: interest curiosity and deprivation curiosity. People high on interest-curiosity tend to hold more positive attitudes towards uncertainty. Embracing the feeling of not knowing, sparked by curiosity, can kindle optimism and positive speculation. Curiosity offers powerful benefits to the curious, a response to learn and understand the unknown that counteracts our impulse to avoid, fear, judge, and attack what we don’t understand. According to psychologist William Whitecross of the Australian National University, this is what makes curiosity a unique and fascinating subject worthy of due credit.
