Multimethod analysis of interest

Interest has been studied to understand its role in learning and achievement and its role in matching people to vocations or areas of study. This research examined whether trait interests as studied within the learning perspective are equivalent to trait interests as studied within the vocational perspective. One hundred seventy-nine undergraduate students completed multiple measures of trait interest, completed brief readings, indicated their interest and engagement in the readings, answered questions about the readings, and were allowed to choose whether to continue reading or read an alternative article. Results showed that trait interest measures converged and diverged as expected across the two perspectives. Vocational trait interest predicted situational variables such as state interest, task engagement, and task persistence. These findings support the idea that the two distinct literatures on interest psychology are studying the same construct