The Dimensional Structure of the Need for Cognitive Closure Scale: Relationships with “Seizing” and “Freezing” Processes

Abstract

Conflicting theoretical accounts portray need for cognitive closure and its measurement tool either as a unidimensional construct or as combining two separate dimensions that independently tap cognitive processes of freezing and seizing. The present research tested structural equation models representing these two perspectives. The results supported a two–factor structure, but the two dimensions, at least as operationalized here, did not map differentially onto seizing and freezing. Further theoretical explication may be necessary to understand the content of the two dimensions of the Need for Closure Scale (NFCS) as well as the precise role of seizing and freezing in the overall need for cognitive closure construct.