Page No 187-193
Amuda Agneswaran and Aakankshi Javeri
Monk Prayogshala, Mumbai
i.
Epistemic curiosity, tendency to gossip, and social desirability are social constructs
relevant to interpersonal relationships and acquisition of information. Gender and
cultural factors may moderate these variables in an important manner. 100 Indian
college students (Mage = 21.05, SDage = 4.41, range: 16 – 45) participated in this study,
which was an exploratory research to understand the relationship between curiosity,
gossip, and social desirability constructs moderated by gender in an Indian sample.
It was hypothesized that the reporting of epistemic curiosity and tendencies to gossip
were mediated by social desirability. MANOVAs and correlational analyses revealed that
epistemic curiosity and social desirability were negatively correlated for male participants,
suggesting existence of high curiosity with a low need to portray a favourable self-image.
Male participants scored higher on the three constructs, implying gender differences in
the Indian sample. Considerations for future research are discussed