THE LINK BETWEEN NEED FOR COGNITION AND POLITICAL INTEREST, INVOLVEMENT, AND MEDIA USAGE

This study investigates the effects of being relatively ''high'' or ''low'' in need for cognition on political interest, involvement and political media usage. Subjects were given a questionnaire that measured these variables along with the 18-item Need for Cognition Scale approximately four weeks prior to the 1988 presidential election. Results indicated that higher need for cognition is significantly associated with greater interest in politics, more interaction about politics, greater political activity, more reasons for choosing a candidate, and more content-oriented use of political media.