When Motivation Undermines Learning: A Dual-Theory Perspective on Curiosity

This study integrates Self Determination Theory and Social Cognitive Theory to examine how social skills impact curiosity through sense of learning and the role of self-motivation as a moderator in the process. Such a study helps develop an understanding of individual and environmental factors that contribute to a person's curiosity at work. Following a cross-sectional research design, data have been collected from 274 full-time employees, pan-India, using validated scales. Confirmatory factor analysis was done using AMOS; moderation and moderated mediation analysis were done using Hayes' PROCESS macro. Evidence of social skills positively influencing curiosity came out, while the role of sense of learning was that of a partial mediator. The unexpected negative moderation of self-motivation indicated that people with high self-motivation rely less on social interaction to motivate themselves to learn. Such findings support the overjustification effect and SDT's undermining effect, which explain how external factors, such as social interaction, lower autonomous motivation. These findings are novel and go against the conventional wisdom that while social skills lead to enhanced curiosity through learning, high self-motivation may actually reduce the dependency on the social learning processes.