April 1st, 2006 | RESEARCH
This paper advances the thesis that museum visitors' identities, motivations and learning are inextricably intertwined. All individuals enact multiple identities, many of which are situational and constructed in response to a social and physical context. Identity influences motivations, which in turn directly influence behavior and learning. Visitors to museums tend to enact one or various combinations of five museum-specific identities, described here as: explorer; facilitator; professional/hobbyist; experience seeker; and spiritual pilgrim. Preliminary findings suggest that these identity-specific motivational categories might help to explain the long-term learning impacts of a museum visit.
Document
(no document provided)
Team Members
John H Falk, Author, Oregon State UniversityCitation
Identifier Type: DOI
Identifier: 0.1111/j.2151-6952.2006.tb00209.x
Publication: Curator: The Museum Journal
Volume: 49
Number: 2
Page(s): 151
Related URLs
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2151-6952.2006.tb00209.x/abstract
Tags
Audience: Evaluators | General Public | Museum | ISE Professionals
Discipline: Education and learning science
Resource Type: Peer-reviewed article | Research Products
Environment Type: Exhibitions | Museum and Science Center Exhibits | Museum and Science Center Programs | Public Programs