Opening the Closed Mind: The Effect of Exposure to Literature on the Need for Closure

The need for cognitive closure has been found to be associated with a variety of suboptimal information processing strategies, leading to decreased creativity and rationality. This experiment tested the hypothesis that exposure to fictional short stories, as compared with exposure to nonfictional essays, will reduce need for cognitive closure. One hundred participants were assigned to read either an essay or a short story (out of a set of 8 essays and 8 short stories matched for length, reading difficulty, and interest). After reading, their need for cognitive closure was assessed. As hypothesized, when compared to participants in the essay condition, participants in the short story condition experienced a significant decrease in self-reported need for cognitive closure. The effect was particularly strong for participants who were habitual readers (of either fiction or non-fiction). These findings suggest that reading fictional literature could lead to better procedures of processing information generally, including those of creativity.     

Life on Her Own Terms: A Story of Reclamation

There are some melancholic patients who come to us whose internal object world is dim, depleted, and impoverished. Their objects fail to take hold from the start, and this failure of internalization contributes to major deficits in the self and results in the inability to move from an identification with a dead internal object to object usage, where externality and intersubjectivity are born and the ability to claim a right to a life is created. In this paper, the author presents a clinical example that illustrates how it’s possible to create new internal objects and states of aliveness so the patient is able to claim a “right to life,” where hope in human relatedness is restored, along with the capacity to mourn.     

Effects of Psychological Distance and Need for Cognitive Closure on Impression Formation

Based on theoretical and empirical similarities between Construal level theory of psychological distance and the Need for cognitive closure (NFC) theory, it could be hypothesized that psychological distance and NFC represent constructs that overlap to some degree. Since both theories describe judgmental behavior in terms of schematic processing, we hypothesized that primacy effect, a schema-driven phenomenon, is strengthened under the heightened NFC and psychological distance. We tested this hypothesis in an impression formation experiment while manipulating psychological distance and measuring NFC. Low NFC and psychological closeness reflect preference for situationally specific, contextually rich information, and therefore their joint effect resulted in reliance on all available information regardless of their position in a sequence. High NFC and psychological distance produced a preference for clear, schematic, stable knowledge, and therefore weighed first information more, which resulted in the primacy effect.     

A Story of Her Own: Hester Lynch Piozzi's Autobiography

This essay examines the autobiography of Hester Lynch Piozzi and contextualizes her story within eighteenth-century ideologies of gender and aging. From a narrative understanding of identity, autobiographical writing serves as one of the many stories that constitute an individual's identity. This reading of Piozzi's account finds that it functions both as an act of reminiscing and as an effort to give meaning to life that was often misunderstood. Considering Piozzi as a woman who lived most of her life outside of the social and cultural expectations for a middle class female of her era, this essay suggests the importance of listening to and retelling the stories of others as well as our own.     

认知闭合需要研究评述

认知闭合需要是个体稳定的认知特征,描述了个体在面对模糊情境时是否愿意系统处理信息的动机。已有研究表明,认知闭合需要对个体的信息处理过程和决策结果有显著的预测能力。总体上说,高认知闭合需要的个体更容易利用启发式进行思考,因此此类个体更容易受到过度归因、首因效应等的影响。虽然大多数的研究表明认知闭合需要是个体稳定的认知特质,但也有研究者发现环境因素如噪音等可以在一定程度上、在短时期内改变个体的认知闭合需要的水平。因此,在相关研究中,认知闭合需要既可以通过量表测量,也可以通过在实验中改变环境噪音和时间压力等方法来操纵。已有的关于认知闭合需要的研究也有不足之处。首先,如何引导高认知闭合者克服匆忙做出决策的动机并采用分析式的方式处理信息和进行决策,目前的相关研究还很少;其次,已有的关于认知闭合的研究大都为实验室研究,因此这些研究的外部效度较低;第三,认知闭合需要在冲突研究领域的应用被忽略了。未来有必要针对这些不足之处进行相应研究     

Need for Closure and the Social Response to Terrorism

It has been long contended that terrorism is a form of psychological warfare with the aim of advancing political objectives through the spreading of fear. The present set of five studies explored the relation between need for closure and the social response to terrorism. We found support for the notion that reminders of terrorist attacks elevate the need for closure and that the need for closure may enhance ingroup identification; interdependence with others; outgroup derogation; and support for tough and decisive counterterrorism policies and for leaders likely to carry out such policies. The implications of this research for the claims of terrorist ideologues regarding the efficacy of terrorism are discussed.     

Gender Nonconformity Is Perceived Differently for Cisgender and Transgender Targets

Sex Roles - The present research examined the role gender non-conformity plays in attitudes toward transgender people. Study 1 with 232 U.S college students focused on attitudes toward...     

Opening the Creative Mind of High Need for Cognitive Closure Individuals through Activation of Uncreative Ideas

Drawing on the integrative system theory of creativity combining the person, process, and press perspectives, this research offers the first evidence of how high-need-for-cognitive-closure (NFC) individuals’ creative mind can be opened up, by making them become more cognizant of uncreative ideas as consensually invalid solutions to creative problems. A validation study was conducted to first establish the utility of a newly developed chocolate design task. In the second study, half of the participants were made aware of conventional chocolate designs by drawing these designs before generating a revolutionized design of chocolate; the other half did not have to draw out the conventional designs first. Results confirmed that, given the opportunity to cognize uncreative solutions, high-NFC participants who had a higher creative ideation potential became the most creative. Their low-NFC counterparts, however, did not seem to benefit from the trigger of uncreative solutions. The implication that holding onto a chronic motive to attain cognitive closure or epistemic certainty is not necessarily detrimental to creative performance was discussed.     

Socially Assigned Gender Nonconformity: A Brief Measure for Use in Surveillance and Investigation of Health Disparities

Discrimination and violence targeting people perceived as gender nonconforming have been linked to a range of negative health outcomes, and large-scale representative data are needed to begin population surveillance of associated health disparities. A brief self-report measure of gender expression as perceived by others was tested using cognitive interviewing methods in a diverse sample of 82 young adults aged 18–30 years, recruited from the New England region in the U.S. Results identified themes related to item clarity, gender expression variation, undesirability of highest or lowest ends of item range, and tension between self and others’ perceptions. The item performed as expected and is recommended for use on studies of health disparities, including statewide and national public health surveillance tools.     

Reactions to Receiving Assumptive Help: The Moderating Effects of Group Membership and Perceived Need for Help1

The present study examined how group membership and need for help, variables that can operate independently or in combination, can affect reactions to receiving help. Arab participants (n = 164) received or did not receive help from an in‐group member (Arab helper) or from an out‐group high‐status member (Jewish helper) when the task was described as easy or difficult, or when no information was given. As predicted, Arab participants who received assistance from a Jewish helper or received assistance on an easy task showed more negative reactions than did those who received assistance from an Arab helper or on a difficult task. The theoretical implications for disentangling intergroup and interpersonal influences on reactions to receiving help are considered.     

Dispositional Need for Cognitive Closure and Self-Enhancing Beliefs

Abstract

In 3 studies, the author examined self-enhancing beliefs as a function of dispositional need for cognitive closure. The results of the 1st study revealed that fathers in the Netherlands believed that they devoted more time to their children than did average Dutch fathers; these beliefs were strongest for participants with a high need for closure. Results of Studies 2 and 3 replicated the findings in Study 1 in a controlled experimental context with approaches developed by S. T. Allison, D. M. Messick, and G. R. Goethals (1989) and by D. M. Messick, S. Bloom, J. P. Boldizar, and C. D. Samuelson (1985).     

认知闭合需要与启发式策略对价格判断的影响

采用问卷与实验相结合的方法,以120名大学生为被试,考察认知闭合需要与一般启发式策略对个体价格判断的潜在影响。结果发现:(1)认知闭合需要与精确度效应交互作用显著,高闭合个体在整数价格高低的评价上高于低闭合个体;(2)认知闭合需要与差价大小交互作用显著,差价整数位是3时高闭合个体对于差价的评价高于低闭合者;(3)认知闭合需要,左侧数字改变与以9结尾、以0结尾三者的交互作用显著,当评价左侧数字改变的价格时,高闭合个体对以0结尾的数字的评价显著高于以9结尾的数字的评价。认知闭合需要与启发式策略对价格判断共同产生影响。研究结果表明,不同的定价方式与定价策略会对认知闭合需要不同的个体产生差异性影响。     

A Brain of Her Own: A Neural Correlate of Song Assessment in a Female Songbird

The song control region in the avian forebrain is a series of discrete, interconnected nuclei mediating song learning and production. It has been studied in males or in species where both sexes sing. Little is known about the neural correlates of song perception in nonsinging females, often the intended recipients of song. We studied cowbirds (Molothrus ater), a species in which only males sing but in which females discriminate between males on the basis of song. We focused on nucleus lMAN because it has been implicated in early song acquisition, a stage relevant to both sexes to choose among competing acoustic models. We found that volume of lMAN was monomorphic in cowbirds. Moreover, the volume and neuronal number of female lMAN were positively correlated with selectivity of copulatory responding. The results provide strong evidence of nonsinging female's use of “song” control nuclei for song perception without the possibility of song production.     

认知需求和认知闭合需求对风险决策中外语效应的影响

外语效应指相比于母语背景,个体在外语背景下风险决策偏差会降低。针对影响外语效应的因素研究大多聚焦于外部因素和与个体外语水平相关的因素,少有研究探讨认知风格的作用。本研究通过524名成人被试,探索认知需求和认知闭合需求对外语效应的影响。结果表明:(1)风险决策中存在外语效应,相比于母语背景,外语背景下框架效应被削弱,且个体更偏向风险寻求。(2)对于认知需求和认知闭合需求都高或都低的个体,语言类型会影响风险决策,在母语环境下倾向于风险规避,在外语环境下倾向于风险寻求;而对于认知需求和认知闭合需求高低不一致的个体,语言类型对其风险决策倾向的影响不显著。本研究为认知风格如何综合影响风险决策提供了进一步的证据。     

Delusions and decision-making style: use of the Need for Closure Scale

Clinicians and researchers have suggested that rapidity in belief formation, due to having a high 'need for closure' (NFC), may contribute to the acceptance of delusional explanations. The aim of the study is to determine whether NFC has such a direct link with delusions. A secondary aim is to examine if NFC is related to the delusion-associated reasoning process of 'jumping to conclusions'. One hundred and eighty-seven patients with psychosis, recruited for a treatment trial of psychological therapy (the PRP trial), completed the Need for Closure Scale (NFCS), symptom measures, and probabilistic reasoning tasks. The NFCS was considered in terms of its two dimensions: a desire for simple structure and a preference for quick, decisive answers. The individuals with psychosis reported being poor at making quick, decisive answers but required a greater need for simple structure. NFC was associated with levels of anxiety and depression. There were weak links between NFC and both positive and negative symptoms of psychosis, but these were explained by differences in affect. NFCS scores were unrelated to jumping to conclusions. Contrary to the argument that NFC is directly linked to delusions, individuals with delusions actually perceive themselves as indecisive. There was no evidence that NFC-at least as assessed by the NFCS-could be a proximal cause of delusions. Any potential effect on psychotic symptom presentation is indirect, mediated through affect. The use of the NFCS on its own in the study of psychotic symptoms cannot be recommended.     

Spanish adaptation of the Need for Closure Scale

The Need for Cognitive Closure (NCC) refers to the motivation to seek and maintain a definitive answer to a given problem. This mental closure allows people to avoid confusion, ambiguity and uncertainty. The NCC plays a critical role in a variety of processes of diverse nature, including intra-personal (e.g., the higher the NCC, the less generation of hypothesis), inter-personal (e.g., decreased empathy), intra-group (e.g., increased desire for consensus), and inter-group (increased in-group favouritism) phenomena. The goal of the present research was to provide a Spanish adaptation of Antonio Pierro and Arie Kruglanski's Revised NCC Scale (2005, Rev NfCS), examining the reliability and the validity of participants' scores. In the present studies, it was found that the Spanish version of the scale had acceptable internal reliability and adequate factor structure (Study 1), as well as acceptable test-retest reliability and adequate discriminant validity with regard to the scores in another measure of individual differences such as the Need for Cognition (NC, Study 2).     

The Trials of Women Leaders in the Workforce: How a Need for Cognitive Closure can Influence Acceptance of Harmful Gender Stereotypes

Sex Roles - Women leaders in the workforce are adversely affected by two sets of stereotypes: women are warm and communal but leaders are assertive and competent. This mismatch of stereotypes can...     

Women with Beards and Men in Frocks: Gender Nonconformity in Modern American Film

The present study examines the portrayal of gender nonconformity in 36 American films released from 2001 to 2011. Mainstream and independent films with at least one character portrayed in a gender transgressive way were chosen for analysis. The films were coded at two levels: (1) the entire film, and (2) the individual characters. The entire films were coded for mainstream versus independent production, genre, and screen time of gender nonconforming characters. The characters were coded for the type of gender transgression, the characters’ demographics, and their purposes in the plot. The most common purpose of the non-conforming characters was humor, especially in mainstream films. Exploring identity was a much less common purpose and these films were far more likely to be independent films. The non-conforming characters were far more likely to identify as a static identity, man or woman, rather than anything else. Gender identity was almost always presented as something simple, static and binary.     

Divergent Reactions to the Terror of Terrorism: Personal Need for Structure Moderates the Effects of Terrorism Salience on Worldview-Related Attitudinal Rigidity

The current studies explore how individual differences in personal need for structure (PNS) influence the extent to which people respond to terrorism threats with cultural worldview-related attitudinal rigidity. PNS was measured, terrorism salience manipulated, and British participants' attitudes toward an essay arguing against the British adoption of the Euro (Study 1) or American participants' attitudes toward an essay arguing for a nontraditional approach to the Thanksgiving meal (Study 2) were assessed. Terrorism salience, relative to a control condition, increased liking of the anti-Euro position and decreased liking for a nontraditional approach to Thanksgiving for those high in PNS. The reverse pattern was found for those low in PNS. Theoretical and applied implications are considered.