Weather on the Brain II: Quantifying the Need to Think About Weather Through the Development and Initial Validation of the Need for Cognition about Weather Scale

Abstract

People have for many years been seen as having had a unique sense of connectedness with the natural world. However, as we move steadily into the 21st century and become further urbanized and technological, there is evidence suggesting we are moving away from this tendency with a corresponding loss of individual Selfhood, traditional green spaces, wildlife habitats and ecosystems. Furthermore, lack of concern for climate change is equating directly to loss of global biodiversity. This portends the loss of a connection with the meteorological aspects existing within nature, without which we will be at enhanced risk of psychological and physical harm from climate change. Thus, this thesis explores whether or not the people of today possess a need to think about, or a need for cognition about, the weather. Underlying theory and implications for the existence of such a construct are discussed.

Weather on the Brain III: Archival Analysis from Weather on the Brain II: Quantifying the Need to Think About Weather Through the Development and Initial Validation of the Need for Cognition about Weather Scale (Bolton, 2021)

“…The main concern of this paper is the relationship between this questionnaire and the other measures. Replicating my initial work (Bolton, 2021), the NCAW scale was reliable with identical Cronbach's α and McDonald's ω values of .95. Both factors 1 and 2 had identical values for both metrics (.96 for factor 1; .87 for factor 2).…”

“…Based on the initial KMO value of 0.94, the items were deemed suitable for analysis; Bartlett's test of sphericity returned a significant result, χ 2 = 4378.84 (190), p < 0.001, but this is typical with larger sample sizes. The original two factors I found previously-themed around a broad sense that weather is personally meaningful and that thinking about weather is a part of the person's self-concept, and an abiding appreciation for weather-were replicated (Bolton, 2021). For exploratory purposes, I also isolated and analyzed the 4 items-1, 12, 13, 15 below-specific to weather-metacognition.…”

“…Need for cognition about weather (NFCwx) describes a tendency, above and beyond basic informational needs (Stewart, 2009;Stewart et al, 2012;Wehde & Nowlin, 2023), to reflect on, think about, and otherwise engage with weather and thoughts about weather (Bolton, 2021;Bolton & Lazarro, 2021). Building upon the work presented in my master's thesis (Bolton, 2021), 20 of 22 originally-included items-due to the remaining 2 being more associated with weather salience than a need for cognition about weather-were administered here for further statistical validation. The main concern of this paper is the relationship between this questionnaire and the other measures.…”

“…A further third factor, consisting of only the 4 weather-metacognition items had identical reliability values of .86. The Cronbach's α values are provided here for comparison to those in my original study (Bolton, 2021).…”

“…Validation of the Need for Cognition about Weather Scale (Bolton, 2021) The purpose of this short paper is to briefly report some of the results of a study which I was unable to include in my Master's thesis due to time constraints prior to my graduation. My thesis (Bolton, 2021) described the quantification of a need for cognition about weather, an individual difference trait I conceptualized as involving the metacognitive act of a person considering themselves a person who thinks about weather (and see Bolton & Lazzaro, 2022).…”