Cognitive Investments in Academic Success: The Role of Need for Cognition at University
Previous research has shown that Need for Cognition (NFC), the individual tendency to engage in and enjoy cognitive endeavors, contributes to academic performance. Most studies on NFC and related constructs have thereby focused on grades to capture tertiary academic success. This study aimed at a mo...
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Universitätsbibliothek Chemnitz
2017
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ndltd-DRESDEN-oai-qucosa.de-bsz-ch1-qucosa-2265462017-06-27T03:55:03Z Cognitive Investments in Academic Success: The Role of Need for Cognition at University Grass, Julia Strobel, Alexander Strobel, Anja Studienerfolg Kognitive Motivation Technische Universität Chemnitz Publikationsfonds Need for Cognition Academic Performance Satisfaction with One’s Studies Academic Success Investment Traits Chemnitz University of Technology Publication funds ddc:155 Studienerfolg Kognitive Motivation Previous research has shown that Need for Cognition (NFC), the individual tendency to engage in and enjoy cognitive endeavors, contributes to academic performance. Most studies on NFC and related constructs have thereby focused on grades to capture tertiary academic success. This study aimed at a more comprehensive approach on NFC’s meaning to success in university. We examined not only performance but also rather affective indicators of success. The current sample consisted of 396 students of different subjects with a mean age of 24 years (139 male). All participants took part in an online survey that assessed NFC together with school performance and further personality variables via self-report. Success in university was comprehensively operationalized including performance, satisfaction with one’s studies, and thoughts about quitting/changing one’s major as indicators. The value of NFC in predicting tertiary academic success was examined with correlation analyses and path analysis. NFC significantly correlated with all success variables with the highest correlation for study satisfaction. Path analysis confirmed the importance of NFC for study satisfaction showing that NFC had a significant direct effect on study satisfaction and via this variable also a significant indirect effect on termination thoughts. This study clearly indicates that NFC broadly contributes to the mastery of academic requirements and that it is worthwhile to intensify research on NFC in the context of tertiary education. Universitätsbibliothek Chemnitz Technische Universität Chemnitz, Fakultät für Human- und Sozialwissenschaften Frontiers Research Foundation, 2017-06-26 doc-type:article application/pdf application/zip text/plain application/zip http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:ch1-qucosa-226546 urn:nbn:de:bsz:ch1-qucosa-226546 issn:1664-1078 http://www.qucosa.de/fileadmin/data/qucosa/documents/22654/fpsyg-08-00790.pdf http://www.qucosa.de/fileadmin/data/qucosa/documents/22654/table%201.docx http://www.qucosa.de/fileadmin/data/qucosa/documents/22654/signatur.txt.asc Front. Psychol. 8:790. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00790 eng |
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Studienerfolg Kognitive Motivation Technische Universität Chemnitz Publikationsfonds Need for Cognition Academic Performance Satisfaction with One’s Studies Academic Success Investment Traits Chemnitz University of Technology Publication funds ddc:155 Studienerfolg Kognitive Motivation |
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Studienerfolg Kognitive Motivation Technische Universität Chemnitz Publikationsfonds Need for Cognition Academic Performance Satisfaction with One’s Studies Academic Success Investment Traits Chemnitz University of Technology Publication funds ddc:155 Studienerfolg Kognitive Motivation Grass, Julia Strobel, Alexander Strobel, Anja Cognitive Investments in Academic Success: The Role of Need for Cognition at University |
description |
Previous research has shown that Need for Cognition (NFC), the individual tendency to engage in and enjoy cognitive endeavors, contributes to academic performance. Most studies on NFC and related constructs have thereby focused on grades to capture tertiary academic success. This study aimed at a more comprehensive approach on NFC’s meaning to success in university. We examined not only performance but also rather affective indicators of success. The current sample consisted of 396 students of different subjects with a mean age of 24 years (139 male). All participants took part in an online survey that assessed NFC together with school performance and further personality variables via self-report. Success in university was comprehensively operationalized including performance, satisfaction with one’s studies, and thoughts about quitting/changing one’s major as indicators. The value of NFC in predicting tertiary academic success was examined with correlation analyses and path analysis. NFC significantly correlated with all success variables with the highest correlation for study satisfaction. Path analysis confirmed the importance of NFC for study satisfaction showing that NFC had a significant direct effect on study satisfaction and via this variable also a significant indirect effect on termination thoughts. This study clearly indicates that NFC broadly contributes to the mastery of academic requirements and that it is worthwhile to intensify research on NFC in the context of tertiary education.
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author2 |
Technische Universität Chemnitz, Fakultät für Human- und Sozialwissenschaften |
author_facet |
Technische Universität Chemnitz, Fakultät für Human- und Sozialwissenschaften Grass, Julia Strobel, Alexander Strobel, Anja |
author |
Grass, Julia Strobel, Alexander Strobel, Anja |
author_sort |
Grass, Julia |
title |
Cognitive Investments in Academic Success: The Role of Need for Cognition at University |
title_short |
Cognitive Investments in Academic Success: The Role of Need for Cognition at University |
title_full |
Cognitive Investments in Academic Success: The Role of Need for Cognition at University |
title_fullStr |
Cognitive Investments in Academic Success: The Role of Need for Cognition at University |
title_full_unstemmed |
Cognitive Investments in Academic Success: The Role of Need for Cognition at University |
title_sort |
cognitive investments in academic success: the role of need for cognition at university |
publisher |
Universitätsbibliothek Chemnitz |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:ch1-qucosa-226546 http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:ch1-qucosa-226546 http://www.qucosa.de/fileadmin/data/qucosa/documents/22654/fpsyg-08-00790.pdf http://www.qucosa.de/fileadmin/data/qucosa/documents/22654/table%201.docx http://www.qucosa.de/fileadmin/data/qucosa/documents/22654/signatur.txt.asc |
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AT grassjulia cognitiveinvestmentsinacademicsuccesstheroleofneedforcognitionatuniversity AT strobelalexander cognitiveinvestmentsinacademicsuccesstheroleofneedforcognitionatuniversity AT strobelanja cognitiveinvestmentsinacademicsuccesstheroleofneedforcognitionatuniversity |
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