EN
The interest concept in former authors (like Herbart, Dewey, Fryer, Strong and others) whose approaches can be considered to be traditional and approaches of contemporary authors to this concept (Savickas, Krapp, Silvia and others) are analyzed in the study. The causes of using the interest concept without the vocational attribute - contrary to the fact that the concept used in this way is related in its meaning to the vocational interest - are clarified. In the conclusion, an attempt at a synthesis in the form of a proposal of a definition taking into consideration both traditional and contemporary approaches to interests research is presented.