An educational–psychological conceptualisation of interest

In educational psychology, the concept of interest is interpreted as a content-specific motivational variable that can be investigated and theoretically reconstructed. An important analysis lies in the manifold interrelations between interest, learning and human development. This paper presents a “person–object theory of interest” and outlines developmental aspects such as: (a) the ontogenetic transition from situational to individual interest, (b) the relation between interest development and (c) the growing “self” and the assumption of a dual regulation system.