Personal Need for Structure (PNS)
Thompson, M. M., Naccarato, M. E., Parker, K. C. H., & Moskowitz, G. (2001). The Personal Need for Structure (PNS) and Personal Fear of Invalidity (PFI) scales: Historical perspectives, present applications and future directions. In G. Moskowitz (Ed.), Cognitive social psychology: The Princeton symposium on the legacy and future of social cognition (pp. 19-39). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
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See also Thompson et al.'s (2001)
Personal Fear of Invalidity as well as Webster and Kruglanski's (1994)
Need for Cognitive Closure.
Description:
Purpose
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The PNS was designed to assess preferences for "structure and clarity in most situations, with ambiguity and grey areas proving troublesome and annoying."
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Questions
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12 items using 6-point scales (1 = strongly disagree to 6 = strongly agree)
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Sub-scales
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3 sub-scales:
- Preference for Orderliness (PO)
- Discomfort with Unpredictability (DU)
- Disdain for Ambiguity (DA)
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Domain
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Psychometrics
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Sample items
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- It upsets me to go into a situation without knowing what I can expect from it.
- I like being spontaneous. (reverse-scored)
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References:
Scale:
Thompson, M. M., Naccarato, M. E., Parker, K. C. H., & Moskowitz, G. (2001). The Personal Need for Structure (PNS) and Personal Fear of Invalidity (PFI) scales: Historical perspectives, present applications and future directions. In G. Moskowitz (Ed.), Cognitive social psychology: The Princeton symposium on the legacy and future of social cognition (pp. 19-39). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
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Discussion of PNS & NFCC:
Kruglanski, A. W., Atash, M. N., DeGrada, E., Mannetti, L., Pierro, A., & Webster, D. M. (1997). Psychological theory testing versus psychometric nay-saying: Comment on Neuberg et al.'s (1997) critique of the need for closure scale. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73(5), 1005-1016. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.73.5.1005
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Neuberg, S. L., & Newsom, J. T. (1993). Personal need for structure: Individual differences in the desire for simple structure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65(1), 113-131. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.65.1.113
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Neuberg, S. L., Judice, T. N., & West, S. G. (1997). What the need for closure scale measures and what it does not: Toward differentiating among related epistemic motives. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72(6), 1396-1412. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.72.6.1396
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Neuberg, S. L., West, S. G., Judice, T. N., & Thompson, M. M. (1997). On dimensionality, discriminant validity, and the role of psychometric analyses in personality theory and measurement: Reply to Kruglanski et al.'s (1997) defense of the need for closure scale. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73(5), 1017-1029.doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.73.5.1017
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