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- Title
Socially Desirable Responses in the Measurement of Need for Cognition.
- Authors
Hunt, James M.; Stevens, Karen M.; Chatterjee, Anindya; Kernan, Jerome B.
- Abstract
Two studies suggest that subjects may feign a high need for cognition (NC) in a socially-desirable effort to appear "smart." In one study, the need for cognition scale (Cacioppo and Petty 1982; Cacioppo, Petty, and Kao 1984)—both long and short versions—was found to be correlated significantly with the social desirability scale (Crowne and Marlowe 1964). In a second, the scale was assessed experimentally by manipulating the motivational set insider which subjects completed it. Findings revealed that subjects given normal instructions: (1) scored higher in NC than those instructed to "downplay" their intelligence in completing the scale; and (2) scored no higher or lower than subjects instructed so "demonstrate" their intelligence. In that NC is a key concept in Petty and Cacioppo's (1986) elaboration likelihood model (ELM), caution would seem appropriate when the NC scale is employed. particularly in those settings associated with cognitive achievement.
- Subjects
SOCIAL desirability; MOTIVATION (Psychology); SOCIAL desirability scales; SOCIAL psychology research; COGNITION; PSYCHOMETRICS; PSYCHOLOGY
- Publication
Advances in Consumer Research, 1994, Vol 21, Issue 1, p543
- ISSN
0098-9258
- Publication type
Article