Intellectual curiosity: a principle-based concept analysis.

The purpose of this principle-based concept analysis was to analyze intellectual curiosity across disciplines to explicate the current state of the science. The analysis was used to identify conceptual components of intellectual curiosity and the interrelationships between them. The findings have been integrated into a theoretical definition of intellectual curiosity and provided a beginning point for concept development. The findings are relevant to nursing education and hold significant implications for creating teaching-learning environments and curricula, which optimize or enhance preconditions, attributes, and consequences of intellectual curiosity.