Need for Cognition and its relation to academic achievement in different learning environments

The present study investigates how Need for Cognition (NFC), an individual's tendency to engage in and enjoy thinking, relates to academic achievement in 9th grade students (N = 3.355) attending different school tracks to understand whether school track moderates this relation when controlling for student background variables. Using structural regression analyses, our findings revealed small and significant positive relations between NFC and academic achievement in German, French and Math. Relations were strongest in the highest and weakest in the lowest track. No significant track difference between the highest and the intermediary track could be identified; significant differences of small effect size between the intermediary and the lowest track were found in favor of the intermediary track in the relation between NFC and academic achievement in German and Math. These findings underpin the importance of NFC in academic settings, while highlighting that the relation between NFC and achievement varies with the characteristics of different learning environments.