Thinking through situations: The mediating role of rumination in the relationship between need for cognition and aggression

Abstract Need for cognition (NFC)—a stable personality trait associated with the enjoyment of thinking—has been shown to influence myriad social situations; however, no research has tested the direct and indirect effects of NFC on aggression. We predicted that NFC would negatively correlate with aggression, which would be mediated by rumination. Participants ( N = 216 US adults) completed measures assessing NFC, aggression, and rumination. In line with our hypotheses, results showed that NFC was negatively correlated with aggression, and both anger rumination and more general rumination mediated this relationship. Future research and conclusions are discussed.