Relationships Among Components of Critical Thinking Disposition in Primary School Students: An Investigation Based on Hungarian Context

ABSTRACT Critical thinking disposition (CTD) is regarded as a personal trait within critical thinking (CT), representing an individual's tendency and attitude toward actively employing CT skills (CTS). Previous research has predominantly focused on the external influencing factors of CTD, with limited exploration into CTD itself and the interactions among its internal components. Additionally, most studies have concentrated on higher education, while insufficient attention has been given to the CTD of students in basic education. This study surveyed 900 Hungarian primary school students (M age = 13.82; SD = 1.04) using the Employer–Employee Supported CTD Inventory (2ES‐CTDI) and employed Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS‐SEM) and Importance‐Performance Map Analysis (IPMA) to examine the predictive relationships among the components of CTD, as well as the performance and priorities of different components. This study provides a novel perspective in the field of CTD, contributing to a deeper understanding of the CTD framework and the interactions among its components, and offering empirical support and priority areas for basic education practitioners to better foster students' CTD.