Closure (psychology) - Need For Closure Scale (NFCS)

Need For Closure Scale (NFCS)

The need for closure varies across individuals, situations, and cultures. A person with a high need for closure prefers order and predictability, is decisive and closed-minded, and is uncomfortable with ambiguity. Someone rating low on need for closure will express more ideational fluidity and creative acts.

The Need for Closure Scale (NFCS) was developed by Arie Kruglanski, Donna Webster, and Adena Klem in 1993. Items on the scale include statements such as “I think that having clear rules and order at work is essential to success.” and “I do not like situations that are uncertain”. Items such as “Even after I’ve made up my mind about something, I am always eager to consider a different opinion.” and “I like to have friends who are unpredictable” are reverse scored. Composed of 42 items, the scale has been used in numerous research studies and has been translated into multiple languages. In 2007, Roets and Van Hiel revised the scale, their objective being to resolve some psychometric problems, and thus to make of it a stable, one-dimensional metric.

Items on the Need for Closure Scale exhibit low to moderate statistical associations with: “+ for authoritarianism, + for intolerance of ambiguity, + dogmatism, - association with cognitive complexity, -impulsivity, + need for order and structure, among several other cognitive tools and personality traits. High NFC scores consistently correlate with items on the C-Scale(conservatism) as well as other measures of political and social conservatism.(Kruglanski 2003, Altemeyer, 1981, 1988, 1996, 1998)