Abstract
The impact of need for cognition on interpersonal influence. The Need for Cognition (NC) refers to the tendency to engage in and enjoy effortful thought (Cacioppo and Petty, 1982). Since individuals with high NC tend to base their attitudes on extensive thinking, their attitudes also tend to be relatively resistant to change. The present research examined the impact of NC on interpersonal influence processes. In one study, we predicted and found that, relative to participants with low NC, those with high NC were able to generate more high quality arguments to convince other members of the group. However, this study also showed that participants with high NC were increasingly less efficient in reaching group consensus as the size of the group increased. A number of potential mechanisms for this findings are discussed.
