Need For Closure: Can You Tolerate Uncertainty?

In this article, we discuss the need for closure. In the course of your life you will have to deal with uncertainty. Everyone has to deal with this. Things will come up that you couldn’t have predicted, as well as circumstances where your past experiences won’t help much, if at all.

However, not everyone reacts to uncertainty in the same way. While some people are quite comfortable in this kind of cognitive limbo, others want to get to stable ground as soon as possible. These kinds of differences are exactly what the Need for Closure Scale (NFCS) measures.

If you observe the people around you, you will see certain people who find it difficult to make decisions, to look ahead, or to commit to an opinion.

You also come across individuals who strongly prefer order, routine and concrete ideas. Today we’ll talk about the Need for Closure scale, which can help you determine which category you fall into. If you’re interested, read on!

What is the need for cognitive closure?

This concept refers to the impulse to seek and maintain a definitive answer to a problem or event. It arises from an aversion to confusion, uncertainty or ambiguity.

Despite the fact that external conditions can influence our reactions, we are all destined to place ourselves somewhere on this relatively stable continuum.

The need for closure has two distinct dimensions:

• The tendency to urgency. This refers to the need for an immediate response to an uncertain situation. For example: “When will I find out if I have the job or not?” Those with a clear tendency towards urgency tend to make decisions very quickly and can experience a lot of anxiety when things are not concrete.
• The tendency to permanence. This is the strong desire to maintain and perpetuate the cognitive closure you have managed to achieve. You need the answers to stay stable and true to yourself and you strive to avoid new information that could affect that stability.

The Need for Closure Scale

This scale that measures the need for closure is an instrument that makes it possible to measure where you are in the continuum. Although the original test contains 42 statements, today we’re showing you an abbreviated version.

The scale consists of 14 statements to which you have to assign a point value between 1 (strongly disagree) and 6 (strongly agree), whichever best describes you.

Need for closure – the statements of this scale

• In uncertain situations, I prefer to make an immediate decision, whatever that is.
• When faced with several potentially valid options, I pick one quickly and without hesitation.
• When I have to make a decision, I prefer to make it based on the first available solution, rather than carefully considering which decisions to make.
• I feel very uncomfortable when things around me are out of place.
• I generally avoid participating in discussions about ambiguous or controversial topics.
• When I have to solve a problem, I don’t think much about it, I just decide without doubting myself.
• When I have to solve a problem, I usually don’t waste time thinking about different points of view.

• I’d rather have people around me who have the same ideas as me and the same preferences and things they don’t like.
• In general, I don’t look for alternative solutions to problems for which I already have an available solution.
• I feel uncomfortable if I don’t get a quick response to a problem I’m dealing with.
• Any solution to a problem is better than living in a state of uncertainty.
• I prefer activities where it is very clear what has to be done and how it has to be done.
• Once I’ve found a solution to a problem, I feel like there’s no point in wasting time thinking about other possible solutions.
• I prefer things I’m used to over things I don’t know or can’t predict.

Interpreting the results

To get your final score, simply add up the points you assigned to each question. Your score should be somewhere between 0 and 84. The higher the score, the greater the need for cognitive closure.

This concept influences coming up with hypotheses and alternatives to situations that occur in your life. It also has to do with how empathetic, tolerant and flexible you are in your assessment and decision making.