Escala de Necessidade de Cognição (NCS-18): Efeito de Itens Negativos em sua Estrutura Fatorial

Abstract

ResumoEste estudo objetivou testar a dimensionalidade da Escala de Necessidade de Cognição (NCS-18), controlando o efeito dos itens negativos. Participaram 215 estudantes universitários de João Pessoa (PB), com média de idade de 20 anos (DP = 3,79), os quais responderam a NCS-18 e questões demográfi cas. Testaram-se três modelos: M1 (modelo unifatorial convencional), M2 (modelo bifatorial, com itens positivos e negativos saturando em fatores separados) e M3 (modelo unifatorial, sendo controlado o efeito de itens negativos). Os resultados mostraram que os modelos M2 e M3 apresentaram melhores indicadores de ajuste quando comparados ao M1; porém, o M3 foi também superior ao M2. Concluiu-se, portanto, que a NCS-18 é mais bem representada por meio de uma estrutura unifatorial, especialmente quando é controlado o efeito de itens negativos. Palavras-chave: Necessidade de cognição, itens negativos, escala, validade. AbstractThis study aimed at testing the dimensionality of the Need for Cognition Scale (NCS-18), controlling the effect of negative items. Participants were 215 undergraduate students from João Pessoa (PB) with mean age of 20 years (SD = 3.79). They answered the NCS-18 and demographic questions. Three models were tested: M1 (conventional one-factor model), M2 (two-factor, with positive and negative items loading in separate factors), and M3 (one-factor model, controlling for the effect of negative items). Results showed that M2 and M3 models had better fi t indexes compared to M1. Nevertheless, M3 also had better fi t indexes than M2. In conclusion, evidence that the NCS-18 is more adequately represented by one-factor model was observed, especially when the effect of negative items is controlled. Keywords: Need for cognition, negative items, scale, validity. (Cohen, 1957;Cohen, Stotland, & Wolfe, 1955), os quais a compreenderam como uma necessidade de estruturar o signifi cado de situações relevantes, fazendo--o de forma integrada. Resumidamente, a NFC pode ser defi nida como a tendência de o indivíduo se engajar em atividades que exijam esforço analítico (Cacioppo & Petty, 1982). Ademais, cabe ressaltar a estabilidade temporal deste construto, sendo assim compreendido como uma característica de personalidade, descrevendo pessoas que tendem a se envolver em atividades cognitivas, obtendo satisfação com a sua realização (Cacioppo, Petty, Feinstein, & Jarvis, 1996;Silva & Garcia-Marques, 2006). Nesta direção, estudos vêm sendo desenvolvidos com o fi m de conhecer em que medida a NFC se relaciona com os cinco grandes fatores da personalidade. A propósito, Sadowski e Cogburn (1997) encontraram correlações desse construto com abertura à mudança (r = 0,50, p < 0,001), conscienciosidade (r = 0,40, p < 0,001) e neuroticismo (r = -0,36, p < 0,001). Em outro estudo, Furnham e Thorne (2013) realizaram uma regressão (stepwise) tendo como variáveis preditoras da NFC os fatores abertura (β = 0,46, p < 0,001) e neuroticismo (β = -0,32, p < 0,001), que explicaram conjuntamente 29% da variância. Considerando tais resultado...

The Very Efficient Assessment of Need for Cognition: Developing a Six-Item Version

“…Since its development, the two articles that introduced the long and short version of need for cognition (Cacioppo & Petty, 1982; Cacioppo et al, 1984) have together been cited more than 8,600 times (Google Scholar, April 2017), attesting to the measure’s importance and popularity in scientific research. Researchers have since then validated the NCS-34 and NCS-18 in various languages and/or countries, including Australia (Forsterlee & Ho, 1999), Germany (Bless, Wänke, Bohner, Fellhauer, & Schwarz, 1994), Greece (Georgiou & Kyza, 2019), Spain (Gutiérrez-Maldonado, Bajén, Sintas, & Amat, 1993), Taiwan (Kao, 1994), Portugal (Silva & Garcia-Marques, 2013), Netherlands (Pieters, Verplanken, & Modde, 1987), Brazil (Gouveia, Mendes, Soares, Monteiro, & Santos, 2015), and in a U.S.-Hispanic sample (Culhane, Morera, & Hosch, 2004), and it has been adapted to different populations, including children and adolescents (Keller et al, 2019). The NCS consistently exhibited high internal consistencies, with reliabilities generally varying between α = .80 and α = .90 (Cacioppo et al, 1996), and was found to be invariant across age groups (Soubelet & Salthouse, 2016).…”

Basic psychological needs and subjective well-being in Portuguese older people

“…The negative items disturb the factorial structure of theoretical models since they give rise to a new factor when it is not theoretically expected or justified (Ye, 2009). From the respondents' point of view, according to some authors (e.g., Moraes & Primi, 2002), questionnaires with negative items, require more attention and understanding by the subjects, which may explain the distinction of variability between the positive and the negative items, because, instead of presenting a clear answer, they appear as denial (Gouveia, Mendes, Soares, Monteiro, & Santos, 2015).…”

Need for cognition in a Portuguese managers sample: Invariance across gender and professional activity.

“…It should also be noted that this item presented a low intercorrelation (0.05) with the remaining items of the factor Desire for Understanding. Although the literature suggests the use of negative items (Pedhazur & Schmelkin, 1991; Spector, 1992), their application should be limited due to difficulties participants may encounter in processing the content and issuing a response (Gouveia, Lima, Gouveia, Freires, & Barbosa, 2012; Gouveia, Mendes, Soares, Monteiro, & Santos, 2015; Schmitt & Stuits, 1985). This situation may be due to multiple factors that could be considered in future studies.…”