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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Main Authors: Grass, Julia, Strobel, Alexander, Strobel, Anja
Other Authors: Technische Universität Chemnitz, Fakultät für Human- und Sozialwissenschaften
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universitätsbibliothek Chemnitz 2017
Subjects:
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spelling 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
collection NDLTD
language English
format Article
sources NDLTD
topic 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
spellingShingle 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.
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 strobelalexander cognitiveinvestmentsinacademicsuccesstheroleofneedforcognitionatuniversity
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