Evaluative feedback and the need for cognition

Research in social psychology has shown that individuals differ in the way they process information. For example, a central processing approach, consisting of an analytic consideration of relevant arguments, characterizes people high in need for cognition. Individuals low in need for cognition, on the other hand, tend to be swayed by the peripheral aspects of a communication. The need for cognition is broadly defined as a motivation to engage in cognitively challenging activities. The present study was conducted to assess the effect of evaluative feedback on people's need for cognition, as measured by the Need for Cognition Scale (NCS), and by the subjects' performance on a cognitive task. We found that, compared to people low in need for cognition, individuals who reported a high need for cognition were less affected by feedback and generated a higher number of arguments for and against an issue. We discussed the practical as well as the theoretical implications of these findings.