Justin Shenk

Possible clarity is provided by building off the ideas of Holmes (2000) who theorized that there is an inverse relationship between learning for performance and learning for identity-building. Learning for performance is typical in settings like schooling and the workplace, but it also occurs in a number of  freechoice learning contexts such as sports and the arts, as well in traditional cultural practices such as  weaving and hunting. However, learning can also be motivated for purely intrinsic reasons that have  little to do with performance and everything to do with the process of identity-related self-satisfaction.  According to Kelly (1983) leisure time free-choice learning, like other activities that have a large measure of choice and control, are particularly amenable to the self-affirmation process since they are self-defined, intrinsically motivated activities. The perception of choice and control appears to be fundamental to a heightened sense of self-actualization (Bem, 1972; Csikszentmihalyi, 1990; Samdahl & Kleiber, 1989; Steele, 1988; Williams, 2002), which in turn sustains the integrity of personal identity. However, leisure situations are also amenable to learning for performance. Haggard and Williams (1992) stated, ‘‘Through leisure activities we are able to construct situations that provide us with the information that we are who we believe ourselves to be, and provide others with information that will allow them to understand us more accurately (p. 1).’’

-Journal of Research in Science Teaching article.

Science cafes entertain audiences motivated by social as well as intrinsic factors. Insight into the psychology of visitors to informal science centers may allow science cafe organizers to entertain and provide meaning to a diverse audience of learners.