The Relationship of Need for Cognition and Typical Intellectual Engagement with Intelligence and Executive Functions:...

In this preregistered multi-level meta-analysis, we aim to clarify the association of need for cognition (NFC) and typical intellectual engagement (TIE) with intelligence and executive functions. Multi-level models with robust variance estimation were specified and risk of bias was assessed with the adapted Risk of Bias Utilized for Surveys Tool. NFC/TIE was associated with fluid intelligence (Gf; r = 0.18, p < .001, N = 25,367), crystallized intelligence (Gc; r = 0.26, p < .001, N = 14,651), general intelligence (r = 0.23, p < .001, N = 8479), and working memory (WM) capacity (r = 0.15, p < .001, N = 5921). Associations with WM updating (r = 0.08, p = .111, N = 1084), inhibition (r = 0.04, p = .077, N = 2895), and shifting (r = 0.01, p = 0.642, N = 1727) were non-significant. NFC (r = 0.19) was more strongly related to Gf than TIE (r = 0.12; F(1, 12.10) = 5.04, p = .045) whereas TIE (r = 0.35) was more strongly associated with Gc than NFC (r = 0.24; F(1, 13.10) = 10.70, p = .006). Correlations with Gc significantly declined over time (b₁ = -0.006, β₁ = -0.04, p = .010). Results provide strong evidence for small-to-moderate associations of NFC and TIE with Gf, Gc, general intelligence, and WM capacity, and at best small associations with core executive functions.