Examining the psychometric features of the short form of Need for Cognition Scale (NFS) in high school students

This study aimed to examine the psychometric features (validity and reliability) of the short form of Need for Cognition Scale (NFS) in high school students. For this purpose, 392 students (168 male and 224 female) of Shiraz high schools were selected by multistage cluster sampling method. They, then, responded to the self-report need for cognition scale developed by Cacciopo et al. To assess the construct validity of this scale, confirmatory factor analysis and internal consistency was used. Moreover, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to evaluate the reliability of the scale. Generally, the goodness of fit characteristics of the confirmatory factor analysis model indicated a good fit of the data with factor structure of the need for cognition scale. Also, internal consistency method indicates the construct validity of the scale. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient indicates the stability of the measurement of the scale. Based on these results, one can use the need for cognition scale developed by Cacciopo et al. as an acceptable measurement tool in the study of high school students.