The document discusses the concept of 'need for closure' (NFC), defined as a preference for order and the urgency to reach decisions while discomforting with ambiguity. It highlights the psychological implications of NFC, including how it affects decision-making, perception of information, and group dynamics, noting that individuals with a high NFC often prioritize quick answers and may resist accepting new evidence. Various situational factors can increase one's NFC, while personal traits also play a significant role in how individuals respond to uncertainty.

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Need For Closure(NFC)
Ref- https://psychology.iresearchnet.com/social-psychology/personality/need-for-
closure/

2.  Good business leaders create a vision,
articulate the vision, passionately own the
vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.
• —Jack Welch
 What Essential Personality Trait Is Holding You Down?
 New research highlights how discomfort with ambiguity affects
performance.
 Are you someone who must complete a task or you somehow
don’t feel right?
 If something is too open-ended, or when you are faced with the
need to call up creativity and openness to experience, do you
find yourself wanting?
 If so, you may be someone with a higher “need for closure”
(NFC) than others.

3. Introduction
 Need for Closure Definition
 Psychologists (Webster & Kruglanski, 1994) define NFC as “a
stable dispositional preference for order and predictability,
an urgent desire to reach decisions, affective discomfort
with ambiguity, and ‘closed-mindedness.’”
 Need for closure refers to the desire or motivation to have a
definite answer or knowledge instead of uncertainty or
doubt.
 The need for closure is resolved by any answer, and the
answer is accepted simply because it is available.
 Thus, need for closure does not refer to knowledge or
decisions regarding a specific question, nor does it refer to the
need for accuracy.
 The need for closure can arise from within the person, as
a personality trait—or from the situation, such as when it

4. Need for Closure(NFC) History and Modern
Usage
 Early psychologists used ideas similar to need for closure, such
as
 openness to experience and intolerance of ambiguity, to
refer to broad personality traits and an often dysfunctional
style of thinking.
 Today, need for closure is described as a broader
motivation that may affect how a person thinks or reacts in
a situation.
 In addition, need for closure is described as both a stable
personality trait and as something that can be provoked by
the situation.
 Situations that may trigger need for closure include those in
which
 Failing to decide has harmful consequences, as well as
 The act of thinking about or working on the task is unpleasant.

5. Examples of NFC
 Examples of Situations which tend to increase need for closure
 Pressure to make quick decisions,
 Boring tasks, and
 Uncomfortable environments (e.g., extreme heat or noise)
tend to increase need for closure.
 In contrast Examples of Situations in which individuals avoid
closure
 When the task is enjoyable or
 The answer is obviously wrong.
 In addition, individuals vary in their need for closure.
 Across situations, some individuals prefer to have firm
answers quickly, whereas others are more comfortable
with uncertainty.

6. Consequence of NFC
 One consequence of need for closure is urgency, or the desire
to come to an answer quickly.
 Urgency leads to a tendency to quickly seize upon the first
information that provides an answer.
 A second consequence of need for closure is permanence, or
the tendency to stick to an answer.
 Permanence leads to a tendency to freeze upon the answer
or decision once it is reached.
 Thus, need for closure may lead individuals to focus only
on the initial information provided and to be less likely to
change their answers when confronted with new
evidence.

7. Consequence of NFC
 The urgency and permanence tendencies of need for closure
have been shown to affect how individuals consider information.
 Need for closure results in focusing on initial information
when forming impressions of others, searching for fewer
alternative explanations, and using more stereotypes.
 Need for closure may result in less empathy and
perspective taking because these may challenge one’s
own judgment.
 Need for closure may also result in being less persuaded
by other people’s arguments and a preference to interact
with people who are more susceptible to persuasion.
 During group interaction, need for closure may also
result in less tolerance of group members who disagree
with the majority or who may hinder task completion.
 Reference:

8. Reference:
 Webster, D. M., & Kruglanski, A. W. (1998). Cognitive and social
consequences of the need for cognitive closure. In W. Stroebe &
M. Hewstone (Eds.), European review of social psychology (pp.
133-173). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley