Need for Cognition: A Comprehensive Review
Abstract
Need for cognition (NFC) is a personality trait which describes an individual’s desire to engage in and enjoy cognitively complex activities. NFC has been studied for decades, and is associated with a variety of outcomes, including academic performance, job performance, and even health and well-being. This paper reviews the history of NFC research, the current measures of NFC, and the implications of NFC for academic and work performance. Additionally, this paper explores the potential implications of NFC on health and well-being and proposes directions for future research.
Keywords: need for cognition, personality trait, academic performance, job performance, health, well-being
Need for Cognition (NFC) is a personality trait which describes an individual’s desire to engage in and enjoy cognitively complex activities (Cacioppo, Petty, & Morris, 1983). NFC has been studied for decades, and is associated with a variety of outcomes, including academic performance, job performance, and even health and well-being. This paper reviews the history of NFC research, the current measures of NFC, and the implications of NFC for academic and work performance. Additionally, this paper explores the potential implications of NFC on health and well-being and proposes directions for future research.
History of NFC Research
NFC was first examined in the 1960s by E. Tory Higgins, who studied the notion of regulatory focus (Higgins, 1968). Higgins proposed that people have either a promotion focus or a prevention focus, which is manifested in an individual’s effort and motivation to pursue desired goals or to avoid undesired ones, respectively. He found that people who were high in prevention focus were more likely to engage in cognitively complex tasks than those who were low in prevention focus. This foundational work laid the groundwork for the development of the NFC construct.
In the 1980s, Cacioppo et al. (1983) developed the Need for Cognition scale, the most widely used measure of NFC today. The scale consists of 18 items that measure an individual’s tendency to engage in and enjoy cognitively complex activities. The scale has been used in a variety of contexts, including studies of academic achievement, job performance, and even health and well-being.
Measures of NFC
The Need for Cognition scale (Cacioppo et al., 1983) is the most widely used measure of NFC. The scale consists of 18 items that measure an individual’s tendency to engage in and enjoy cognitively complex activities. Additionally, there are other measures of NFC, such as the Cognitive Reflection Test (Frederick, 2005), the Cognitive Complexity Scale (Furnham & Bradley, 1997), and the Cognitive Reflection Task (Toplak, West, & Stanovich, 2014).
Implications of NFC
NFC has been studied in a variety of contexts, and is associated with a variety of outcomes. NFC is associated with higher levels of academic achievement (Chen & Hattie, 2001; Pruyas, Salanova, & Cifre, 2019), job performance (Furnham & Bradley, 1997; Judge, Bono, Ilies, & Gerhardt, 2002), and even health and well-being (Burger, 2008).
NFC and Academic Performance
NFC is associated with higher levels of academic performance. Studies have shown that individuals who are high in NFC tend to have higher grades, more academic engagement, higher academic self-efficacy, and better learning strategies (Chen & Hattie, 2001; Pruyas et al., 2019). Additionally, NFC has been found to mediate the relationship between academic motivation and academic performance (Pruyas et al., 2019).
NFC and Job Performance
NFC is also associated with job performance. Studies have found that people who are high in NFC tend to perform better on tasks that require higher cognitive complexity (Furnham & Bradley, 1997; Judge et al., 2002). Additionally, NFC has been found to be strongly associated with job satisfaction (Judge et al., 2002).
NFC and Health and Well-Being
NFC has also been studied in the context of health and well-being. Studies have found that people who are high in NFC report better physical health (Burger, 2008) and higher levels of subjective well-being (Burger, 2008). Additionally, NFC has been found to be associated with higher levels of life satisfaction (Burger, 2008).
Conclusion
NFC is a personality trait which describes an individual’s desire to engage in and enjoy cognitively complex activities. NFC has been studied for decades, and is associated with a variety of outcomes, including academic performance, job performance, and even health and well-being. This paper reviewed the history of NFC research, the current measures of NFC, and the implications of NFC for academic and work performance. Additionally, this paper explored the potential implications of NFC on health and well-being and proposed directions for future research.
References
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