Need for cognition
Encyclopedia
The need for cognition, in psychology
, is a personality variable reflecting the extent to which people engage in and enjoy effortful
cognitive activities.
An individual’s innate need-for-cognition, a concept defined as “a need to structure relevant situations in meaningful, integrated ways” and “a need to understand and make reasonable the experiential world” by Cohen, Stotland and Wolfe (1955, p.291).
They also noted that “for any given individual different situations will be differentially important for the arousal and satisfaction of the need” (p.291).
They argued that “stronger needs lead people to see a situation as ambiguous, even if it is relatively structured, indicating that higher standards for cognitive clarity are associated with greater need for cognition” (p.292), observing that “an individual is characterized by a given strength of this need peculiar to himself” (p.291); they also noted that “for any given individual different situations will be differentially important for the arousal and satisfaction of the need” (p.291).
Although they actively distinguished their concept from Frenkel-Brunswik
’s “intolerance of ambiguity” (p.293), it is now quite evident, in the light of modern scholarship, that their “need for cognition” concept,
Following on from the work of Cohen and his colleagues, and moving away from their “drive-reduction principles” (the “reduction of an unpleasant state of arousal produced by complex or ambiguous stimuli”) to those “based on the self-rewarding potential of cognitive activity” (Thompson, Chaiken and Hazlewood, 1993, p.988), Cacioppo
and Petty (1982) created their own scale to measure the need for cognition.
Stressing (p.118) that they were using the word need in the statistical sense of a “likelihood or tendency”, rather than in the rudimentary biological sense of “tissue deprivation”, they defined the need for cognition as an individual’s tendency to “engage in and enjoy thinking” (p.116) and the tendency to “organize, abstract, and evaluate information” (p.124) — or, variously, as a stable, but individually different “tendency to engage in and enjoy effortful cognitive endeavors”, or an “intrinsic motivation to engage in effortful cognitive endeavors… and exercise their mental faculties” (Cacioppo, Petty, Feinstein and Jarvis, p.197), or an “intrinsic motivation for effortful thought” (Thompson, Chaiken and Hazlewood, 1993, p.997).
Cacioppo and Petty’s (1982) need for cognition scale was slightly amended by Cacioppo, Petty and Kao (1984); and, in most of the cases reported in the subsequent literature it is this amended scale that is administered.
Psychological research on the need for cognition has been conducted using self-report tests, where research participants answered a series of statements such as "I prefer my life to be filled with puzzles that I must solve" and were scored on how much they felt the statements represented them. The results have suggested that people who are high in the need for cognition scale score slightly higher in verbal intelligence tests but no higher in abstract reasoning tests. There have not been any found gender differences in the need for cognition.
Research has concluded that individuals high in NFC are less likely to attribute higher social desirability to more attractive individuals or to males. Individuals high in NFC report higher life satisfaction.
The need for cognition is unrelated to social dominance orientation
.
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
, is a personality variable reflecting the extent to which people engage in and enjoy effortful
Effortfulness
In psychology effortfulness is the subjective experience of exertion in connection with an activity, but especially the mental aspects of an activity. In many applications, effortfulness is simply reported by a patient, client, or experimental subject. There has been some work establishing an...
cognitive activities.
An individual’s innate need-for-cognition, a concept defined as “a need to structure relevant situations in meaningful, integrated ways” and “a need to understand and make reasonable the experiential world” by Cohen, Stotland and Wolfe (1955, p.291).
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- Some individuals have a high need for cognition, where they enjoy the effortful engagement of arguments, the evaluation of ideas, and the analysis of problems and their solutions. These individuals by their very nature are more likely to engage in high elaboration. Other individuals will, by their very nature, not be motivated to engage in effortful, thoughtful evaluation and analysis of ideas. These individuals will be more likely to process the information heuristically, that is, with low elaboration. (Dole and Sinatra, 1998, p.117)
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History
Cohen, Stotland and Wolfe (1955), in their work on individual differences in cognitive motivation, identified a "need for cognition", which they defined as “the individual’s need to organize his experience meaningfully”, the “need to structure relevant situations in meaningful, integrated ways”, and “need to understand and make reasonable the experiential world” (p.291). They agued that, if this "need" were frustrated, it would generate “feelings of tension and deprivation” that would instigate “active efforts to structure the situation and increase understanding” (p.291).They also noted that “for any given individual different situations will be differentially important for the arousal and satisfaction of the need” (p.291).
They argued that “stronger needs lead people to see a situation as ambiguous, even if it is relatively structured, indicating that higher standards for cognitive clarity are associated with greater need for cognition” (p.292), observing that “an individual is characterized by a given strength of this need peculiar to himself” (p.291); they also noted that “for any given individual different situations will be differentially important for the arousal and satisfaction of the need” (p.291).
Although they actively distinguished their concept from Frenkel-Brunswik
Else Frenkel-Brunswik
Else Frenkel-Brunswik was a Polish-Austrian Jewish psychologist.- External links :* http://www.kfunigraz.ac.at/sozwww/agsoe/bestand/25_agsoe/25bio.htm...
’s “intolerance of ambiguity” (p.293), it is now quite evident, in the light of modern scholarship, that their “need for cognition” concept,
-
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- …emphasized ambiguity intolerance and tension reduction and, as such, appears closer to contemporary scales that measure tolerance of ambiguity, need for structure, or need for cognitive closure. Indeed, an early study, supporting Cohen's conceptualization of need for cognition was based on the notion that individuals high in need for cognition would avoid ambiguity and achieve an integrated and meaningful world by using heuristics and by relying on the advice of experts rather than by carefully scrutinizing incoming information. (Cacioppo, et al., 1996, p.198)
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Following on from the work of Cohen and his colleagues, and moving away from their “drive-reduction principles” (the “reduction of an unpleasant state of arousal produced by complex or ambiguous stimuli”) to those “based on the self-rewarding potential of cognitive activity” (Thompson, Chaiken and Hazlewood, 1993, p.988), Cacioppo
John Cacioppo
John T. Cacioppo is the Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago. He founded and is Director of the University of Chicago Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience and the Director of the Arete Initiative of the Office of the Vice President for...
and Petty (1982) created their own scale to measure the need for cognition.
Stressing (p.118) that they were using the word need in the statistical sense of a “likelihood or tendency”, rather than in the rudimentary biological sense of “tissue deprivation”, they defined the need for cognition as an individual’s tendency to “engage in and enjoy thinking” (p.116) and the tendency to “organize, abstract, and evaluate information” (p.124) — or, variously, as a stable, but individually different “tendency to engage in and enjoy effortful cognitive endeavors”, or an “intrinsic motivation to engage in effortful cognitive endeavors… and exercise their mental faculties” (Cacioppo, Petty, Feinstein and Jarvis, p.197), or an “intrinsic motivation for effortful thought” (Thompson, Chaiken and Hazlewood, 1993, p.997).
Cacioppo and Petty’s (1982) need for cognition scale was slightly amended by Cacioppo, Petty and Kao (1984); and, in most of the cases reported in the subsequent literature it is this amended scale that is administered.
Features
People high in the need for cognition are more likely to form their attitudes by paying close attention to relevant arguments (i.e., via the central route to persuasion), whereas people low in the need for cognition are more likely to rely on peripheral cues, such as how attractive or credible a speaker is.Psychological research on the need for cognition has been conducted using self-report tests, where research participants answered a series of statements such as "I prefer my life to be filled with puzzles that I must solve" and were scored on how much they felt the statements represented them. The results have suggested that people who are high in the need for cognition scale score slightly higher in verbal intelligence tests but no higher in abstract reasoning tests. There have not been any found gender differences in the need for cognition.
Research has concluded that individuals high in NFC are less likely to attribute higher social desirability to more attractive individuals or to males. Individuals high in NFC report higher life satisfaction.
The need for cognition is unrelated to social dominance orientation
Social dominance orientation
Social dominance orientation is a personality trait which predicts social and political attitudes, and is a widely used Social Psychological scale. SDO is conceptualised as a measure of individual differences in levels of group-based discrimination and domination; that is, it is a measure of an...
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