Dimensions of the Need for Cognition: Subscales and Gender Differences

1988/01/01 by J.S. Tanaka, J. S. Tanaka, A. T. Panter +2 · 8 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Clinical psychology #Cognition #Creativity in Education and Neuroscience #Developmental psychology #Exploratory factor analysis #Innovations in Educational Methods #Latent variable #Latent variable model #Learning Styles and Cognitive Differences #Need for cognition #Persistence (discontinuity) #Persuasion #Psychology #Psychometrics #Scale (ratio) #Social psychology #Statistics

paper · doi:10.1207/s15327906mbr2301_2

openalex publication_date 1988/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29

Abstract

The Need for Cognition (Cacioppo & Petty, 1982) scale has been used, predominantly in the persuasion literature, to assess the degree to which individuals tend to engage in elaborative thought. Using both statistically appropriate methods for the factor analysis of dichotomous variables and latent variable models, we report studies which discuss the development and validation of subscales of the NFC. The findings suggest that three subscales (Cognitive Persistence, Cognitive Confidence, and Cognitive Complexity), representing three different domains of elaborative thought, can be identified. A gender difference was obtained consistently on the Cognitive Persistence Scale: Women scored higher than men. Finally, using latent variable modeling methodologies, we present some initial exploratory evidence regarding cohort differences. We find no statistically significant relation between years of education and NFC subscale scores. Implications of the subscales and potential correlates of the gender difference found for Cognitive Persistence are discussed.

Cited by

• Attitude toward numbers: A better predictor of financial literacy and intelligence than need for cognition
• Effect of increasing the choice of active options on children's physically active play. [europepmc]
• Examining the Effect of Reverse Worded Items on the Factor Structure of the Need for Cognition Scale. [europepmc]
• The Very Efficient Assessment of Need for Cognition: Developing a Six-Item Version. [europepmc]
• Perceptions of Close Relationship Through the Machiavellians´ Dark Glasses: Negativity, Distrust, Self-Protection Against Risk and Dissatisfaction. [europepmc]
• Applying Item Response Theory to Develop a Shortened Version of the Need for Cognition Scale. [europepmc]
• Measuring Motivation for Cognitive Effort as State. [europepmc]
• A voxel-based morphometry study on gray matter correlates of need for cognition and exploratory information seeking. [europepmc]

Related

• The power of many small sex differences in cognition, personality, and interests
• Beyond the Threshold Hypothesis
• Testing the mediating role of cognitive responses in the elaboration likelihood model
• Individual differences in rational thought.
• Where to find the mind: Identifying the scale of cognitive dynamics