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Need for Cognition Scale

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences

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Definition

The need for cognition (NFC) is a primary individual difference in individual’s motivation to engage in effortful cognitive activity.

The Need for Cognition

The ability to engage in effortful cognitive activity is adaptive. Psychologists have long studied numerous situational variables that influence the extent to which individuals are motivated to engage in effortful cognitive activity (e.g., Chen et al. 1999). Psychologists are also interested in understanding individual differences in people’s tendencies to engage in such activity. A primary individual difference that motivates cognitive processing is the need for cognition (NFC).

The term need for cognition was first used by Cohen et al. (1955) to refer to an individual’s need to make the world understandable in coherent, meaningful, ways. In 1982 Cacioppo and Petty reinterpreted NFC as the “tendency to engage in and enjoy thinking” (p. 116). NFC is now typically defined as a “stable individual difference in the...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Douglas A. Bors

  2. University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada

    Jamie A. Gruman

Authors
  1. Douglas A. Bors
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  2. Jamie A. Gruman
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Correspondence to Douglas A. Bors .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Psychology, Wichita State University, 67260, Wichita, Kansas, USA

    C. Brendan Clark

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Bors, D.A., Gruman, J.A. (2018). Need for Cognition Scale. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_52-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_52-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

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