Constructing a model of personal interests

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine "personal interests, " which has never been a thoroughly investigated area of psychological. Preparatory to the study, the personal interests of university students were collected with an open-ended questionnaire. Based on the results, a questionnaire to measure personal interests were made based on the items derived from the former questionnaire, and was administered to university students to further understand the structures of personal interests experienced in daily life. As a result, a questionnaire to measure the personal interests of university students was constructed from 7 interrelated factors: (1) Acquiring the knowledge; (2) Inter-personal relationships; (3) Recreation; (4) Artistic activities; (5) Daily life; (6) Exercise; and (7) Media and technology. It is possible to hypothesize that personal interests have indirect relationships, mediated by the intrinsic motivation, to psychological health. The relationships between personal interests and fulfillment, one aspect of psychological health, was examined to assess the validity of the structure of the questionnaire. Results showed that the structure of the personal interests questionnaire had significant, but moderate, effects on fulfillment. Results provided empirical support for the structure of a questionnaire for personal interests.