ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Personality and Social Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1514959
Revalidation of the Curiosity and Exploration Inventory-II (CEI-II) Using Network Analysis
Provisionally accepted
- 1Cognitive Science Center, Nebrija University, Madrid, Asturias, Spain
- 2Department of Clinical and Experimental Psychology, University of Huelva, Huelva, Spain
- 3Loyola Andalusia University, Seville, Spain
- 4Health Research Institute, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
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Background: Curiosity is crucial across various domains, from clinical to educational fields, and holds potential for psychological interventions. Accurate definition and assessment of curiosity are essential for understanding its role and utility. Traditional approaches like factor analysis may not fully capture the construct's nuances. Objectives: This study aims to reassess the psychometric properties of the Curiosity and Exploration Inventory-II (CEI-II) using Network Analysis. Methods: A total of 849 Spanish undergraduate students participated in the study. Descriptive analysis, partial-correlation network analysis with gender invariance testing, and Bayesian network model estimation were conducted. Results: The findings indicate that the CEI-II is best conceptualized as a stable, one-dimensional model, consistent with prior research. The partial-correlation network exhibited moderate density and was invariant in structure, centrality measures, and edge strength across genders, although global strength differed. The Bayesian network identified key pathways for designing interventions based on curiosity. Conclusions: While the results revealed three distinct item groupings based on centrality measures—challenge-seeking (specific curiosity), novelty-seeking (diversive curiosity), and a combination of both—the empirical evidence supported a stable unidimensional network structure. Items related to specific curiosity showed stronger interconnections, highlighting their importance in fostering curiosity-driven behaviors. These insights suggest that interventions targeting key items may enhance curiosity, and accounting for gender differences could further improve effectiveness.
Keywords: curiosity, creativity, CEI-II, psychometric properties, Network analysis, Bayesian network, Spain
Received: 21 Oct 2024; Accepted: 15 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Navas-León, Pérez-Moreno, Santin Vilarino and Diaz-Milanes. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Carmen Santin Vilarino, Department of Clinical and Experimental Psychology, University of Huelva, Huelva, 21007, Spain
Diego Diaz-Milanes, Loyola Andalusia University, Seville, Spain
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