What type of curious are you?

Psychologists have identified five dimensions of curiosity and four distinct types. I built a quiz so you can find yours.

It’s a question we don’t often ask, but psychologist Todd Kashdan and colleagues have identified five ‘dimensions’ of curiosity through their research using several thousand participants:

· Joyous Exploration – delight in learning for its own sake. This is curiosity as wonder: finding something fascinating and wanting to understand it better, not because it’s useful, but because ideas are genuinely exciting.

· Deprivation Sensitivity – a restless need to know. People high on this dimension work relentlessly at problems, often losing sleep over them, not because they enjoy the struggle, but because they simply can’t rest without a resolution.

· Stress Tolerance – comfort with uncertainty and the ability to manage the anxiety that comes with it. High scorers don’t necessarily seek out the unknown – they just don’t let the discomfort of not-knowing stop them.

· Social Curiosity – interest in other people. And here’s where it gets interesting: the researchers found two distinct flavours. Overt social curiosity is the art of asking questions – turning towards people, probing, engaging. Covert social curiosity is quieter: watching, listening, picking up on things others miss.

· Thrill Seeking – the appetite for adventure. This is curiosity with an adrenaline edge: a preference for the novel, the risky, the spontaneous. People high here don’t just want to know – they want to feel.

Wondering which you might be higher or lower on? Well, I’ve got a way you can find out, but more on that in a minute.

Empathizer or avoider?

The researchers discovered something else, too. They found patterns in the results. People taking the quiz could be grouped into four distinct curiosity ‘types’:

The Fascinated score high across the board. They’re lit up by the world – ideas, people, places. Learning energises them; uncertainty feels like an invitation. They’re assembling a richer picture of how everything connects.

The Problem-solver is intensely, narrowly curious. When something grabs them, they won’t let go. They’re less interested in everything than in this thing, right now, fully understood. Persistence is their superpower.

The Empathizer is high on social curiosity, often lower on thrill-seeking. People are their laboratory. They explore life through connection, and the question they ask most often – consciously or not – is why do people do what they do?

The Avoider is the most interesting type, and probably the most common. They score lower across the board, particularly on stress tolerance. But this isn’t someone without curiosity. Their curiosity is quieter, more cautious – often unexpressed, because uncertainty feels uncomfortable. The pull towards the unfamiliar is there. It’s just competing with something stronger.

Go on – it might change your life*

Want to know which category you fall into? Glad you asked! Because I’ve put together a quiz to help discern the problems solvers from the avoiders, those high on joyous exploration or lacking in stress tolerance.

At this point, I should give a disclaimer and say something like ‘the test is just for fun’ or ‘don’t take this as a diagnosis, quit your job and become a yoga teacher in Kuala Lumpur or Scunthorpe or wherever.’

But it has just changed my life.

Ok, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration. It made my Saturday ever so slightly easier.

I was finishing off the code for the quiz and Daughter Number 1 (who identifies as Blossom for the purposes of this post) asked what I was doing.

We were supposed to be doing errands, then going to the bookshop and getting lunch, but she couldn’t be bothered and wanted to play at home.

Also, she thought the takeaway curry might have onions in it.

As a distraction, I said she could take the test.

Each time I read an academic paper and come across a new curiosity measure, I test it out on her (it’s easier than recruiting actual research guinea pigs; the KCL ethical process is a nightmare). She loves being asked questions. I even ran a trial for my doctoral research where I asked her to examine a range of houseplants and come up with questions about them.

She scored high across most dimensions on the quiz, coming out top on stress tolerance (not always evident at bedtime) and getting the ‘fascinated’ profile. She was delighted about getting the curiosity rubber stamp.

‘Imagine what we might discover in the bookshop,’ I told her. ‘You can try some new food at the curry place.’ She was all for it – her fear of onions forgotten.

Science in action: no guarantees you’ll get the profile you’re hoping for…

So, go on and try the quiz. It’s just for a bit of fun.

But there’s a tiny chance it might just change your life – or at least make your day a bit easier.

Terms and Conditions:

*No refunds available if taking the quiz does not turn out to be a life-changing experience.