Children's Interests Inventory, Grades 4–6

Abstract

A factored interest inventory for children was developed from interest items obtained from literature review and an open-ended questionnaire, the Preliminary Children's Interest Inventory, administered to children, parents, and teachers. These items, collapsed to form a 121 item Children's Interest Inventory, were rated on a 5-point like-dislike scale by 517 children in grades four, five, and six from Marshalltown, Iowa. Teachers rated each child's scholastic, social, and creative ability. Factor analyses showed nine boys' factors and eight girls' factors. Athletic, mechanical, science, verbal, religion, and social are interests found in the adult work and in the present work. Children's interests were not related to ability ratings, lowly related to grade, and highly related to gender.

Development of interests and competency beliefs: A 1-year longitudinal study of fifth- to eighth-grade students using the ICA-R and structural equation modeling.

“…A focus on familiar activities, rather than unfamiliar occupations, appears to be a better means of assessing interests. In research in which interests have been assessed through familiar activities, the structure of interests in children has been found to differ from that of adults (Dusek, Kermis, & Monge, 1979; Freeberg & Rock, 1973; Tyler, 1955, 1956; Zbaracki, Clark, & Wolins, 1985).…”

The structure of children's interests and competence perceptions.

“…. The few studies that attempted to assess the domain of interests more completely (Dusek, Kermis, & Monge, 1979;Tyler, 1955Tyler, , 1956Zbaracki, Clark, & Wolins, 1985) found that although there was some similarity, the structure of interests for children differed from that for adults.…”

“…Some other researchers assessed children’s interests using only a very narrow band, not representative of a broader domain of interests (e.g., Fouad & Smith, 1996; Roberts & Petersen, 1992; Schulenberg et al, 1991). The few studies that attempted to assess the domain of interests more completely (Dusek, Kermis, & Monge, 1979; Tyler, 1955, 1956; Zbaracki, Clark, & Wolins, 1985) found that although there was some similarity, the structure of interests for children differed from that for adults.…”

Hacia un modelo universal de los intereses

“…Varios investigadores han encontrado factores de intereses en niños y niñas de primer grado en adelante (Cirino Gerena, 2013;Tracey, 2001;Tyler, 1955;Zbaracki, Clark, & Wolins, 1985). Estos factores evidencian que la estructura del universo de los intereses comienza a definirse en la niñez, por lo que conviene tomar teorías que discutan el origen y desarrollo de los intereses a partir de esta.…”