Examination of Psychometric Properties of the Need for Closure Scale- Short Form among Turkish College Students

Abstract

The need for cognitive closure (NFC) has recently gained importance in behavioral neuroscience. In recent years, the impact of motivation in social psychology and personality psychology on cognition has begun to be examined, and the need for cognitive closure was explained by a detailed theory (1). The Theory of Daily Scientificism (Epistemology) put forward by Kruglanski and Ajzen (2) examines how individuals constitute their knowledge in everyday life, how they change this knowledge, and in what ways they change it from a cognitive-motivational point of view. Epistemological beliefs are subjective beliefs about what information is available about individuals in general and about how knowledge and learning are carried out. These beliefs influence the ways in which individuals approach and learn about the subject and in the future, learning "how" (3). Epistemological beliefs seem to have a decisive influence on the teaching-learning approaches that individuals prefer, the learning strategies they use, and the way they perceive and interpret certain learning experiences and various knowledge (4). According to this theory, the individual has an intrinsic-cognitive motivation to search for knowledge in everyday life and to search for the most appropriate knowledge for solving problems (2,5,6). In this process, the individual has to come up with a problem definition for the solution of the problem, and while making this definition they create some hypotheses and test these hypotheses. As a result, some hypotheses become stronger as some hypotheses are eliminated. This hypothesis-building and testing process is influenced by three factors-the need to achieve a definitive result, concern for invalidity of consequence, and the need for cognitive closure (7). The need for cognitive closure is shaped by the situation and at the same time affects the process of acquiring knowledge (2,5).The concept of need for closure was put forward by Kruglanski (7) to develop a theoretical framework of cognitive-motivational aspects of decision-making. The need for cognitive closure is seen as a process that affects the responses of individuals to their social environment (8). The need for cognitive closure is the need for the individual to reach a certain knowledge rather than confusion and ambiguity in a particular context (1,6,8,9). Kruglanski (7) defines the need for closure as "an answer on a subject, any answer when encountered confusion and uncertainty" (page 337). In other words, the need for cognitive closure is the simplification of complex knowledge and the motivation to avoid uncertainty when the individual meets a problem about "knowledge" (10). The word "need" in the concept is not a lack, but rather an attribution to an inner motivation (1,7,8). This motivation also refers to the cognitive differences of the individual in the information-processing process (7,8). According to Kruglanski (7), individuals prefer to avoid uncertainty in a situation, to complete the state of mental uncertainty (cognitive completeness/closure...

Need for closure and ethnic identification: The varied roles of cultural intelligence in a multiethnic group society

“…NFC showed a positive correlation with right‐wing authoritarianism and blatant racism and a negative correlation with openness to experience (Roets & Van Hiel, 2011). Atak et al (2017) also reported internal consistency of 0.74. In this study, the scale showed good internal consistency of 0.76 as measured by Cronbach's α .…”

“…correlation with right-wing authoritarianism and blatant racism and a negative correlation with openness to experience (Roets & Van Hiel, 2011). Atak et al (2017) also reported internal consistency of 0.74. In this study, the scale showed good internal consistency of 0.76 as measured by Cronbach's α. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in this study also yielded good fit indices χ 2 /df = 4.09, CFI = 0.96, RMSEA = 0.05, SRMR = 0.04.…”

A Meta-Theoretical Approach into the Determinants of Internal Psychological Resources for Entrepreneurs

“…Epistemic motivation involves the eagerness to participate in deep thinking (Scholten et al, 2007) and is autonomously constructed to make educated assumptions about the world (de Dreu et al, 2008). Epistemic motivation originally consisted of the need for cognition and the need for closure (Atak et al, 2017). The need for cognition deals with how individuals differ in terms of cognitive motivation, information processing (Dickhäuser et al, 2009), their ability to remember complex information, and make precise judgments after careful deliberation of available information tasks (Cacioppo et al, 1984).…”

Zkrácená škála kognitivního uzavření: struktura české verze u vzorku studentů učitelství a učitelů

“…Proto Roets a Van Hiel (2011) zkonstruovali krátkou verzi NFCS s 15 položkami (dále NFCS-15), která byla posléze validována v dalších jazycích, např. španělštině (Horcajo et al, 2011) či turečtině (Atak, Syed, & Çok, 2017). Českou 3 validaci (NFCS-15-CZ) provedli Širůček a spolupracovníci na celkovém vzorku více než 2500 respondentů ve věku 16 až 43 let (Širůček et al, 2014;Širůček & Ježek, 2015).…”