ABSTRACT
This chapter considers how a person's existing interest(s) can be assessed, how new interests can be supported to develop, and how the phase of a person's interest can be identified and measured. As Bandura and Schunk (1981) pointed out, a critical question is how to support people to find potential contents of interest rewarding. As discussed, findings from neuroscience indicate that the process of seeking, or wanting to figure something out, is linked to the reward circuitry. The engineer works at a firm and has a job with two main components. The first involves solving technical problems and the second is "selling", that is to bring in work for the firm. In a 2011 review of the conceptualization, measurement, and generation of interest, we conclude that conceptualizations of interest need to be aligned with their measurement if they are to be generally applicable and able to inform practice.
