• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.646-654
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• 2014

The aim of this study was to investigate the patterns of the elementary school students' interests to animals and plants based on affinity toward animals and plants, and curiosity about animals and plants by using a cluster analysis. In addition, the differences of the big five personality traits by the identified clusters was examined. A total number of 411 elementary school students participated in the study. The students were clustered into four distinct interest groups with respect to the level of interests to animals and plants. Cluster 1 'Developed Interest to Organisms group' showed high levels in the interest to both animals and plants. Cluster 2 'Developed Interest to Animals group' showed high interest to animals and relatively low interest to plants whereas cluster 3 'Developed Interest to Plants group' showed high interest to plants and relatively low interest to animals. Lastly, cluster 4 were identified as 'Lack of Interest to Organisms group' by showing low levels of interest to both animals and plants. The four identified groups also showed different distributions of students according to gender and school year. These results support gender difference in the interest to animals and plants and suggest the decreased and specialized interest with school year. The Big Five personality traits excluding neuroticism were positively related with the interest to organisms and the identified groups showed significant differences in the traits. These findings indicate that agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and openness can be significant predictors of the interests to animals and plants.