The role of cognitive inhibition in motivation toward closure

Abstract

This research examines the role of cognitive inhibition in individual differences in need for cognitive closure. It was expected that cognitive inhibition is related to need for closure and its four facets (preference for order, predictability, intolerance of ambiguity and closed-mindedness) (Experiment 1). It was also assumed that under cognitive load, high need for closure participants would show an increased level of inhibition to compare to the low need for closure ones (Experiment 2). Across these experiments, individual differences in need for closure correspond to the ability to handle irrelevant information efficiently; that individuals scored high (vs. low) in need for closure revealed this process more strongly, also in a more cognitively demanding condition.