Self-Motivated Cognition

Self-motivated intellectual engagement describes the disposition to be intrinsically motivated towards cognitive activity. It is a construct that can be assigned to the overlapping area of personality and intelligence and has been studied in various areas of psychology under different names. Examples include Need for Cognition (NfC), Typical Intellectual Engagement (TIE) or Openness to Ideas, which is a facet of the Big Five personality trait Openness to Experience. Available instruments to assess NfC, TIE, and Openness show substantial overlap and high correlations.

Our research activities focus on the integration of existing approaches on self-motivated intellectual engagement and the extension of this construct to other cognitive processes and content areas. This also includes the construction and evaluation of corresponding measures.

Interested in collaborating with us? Considering a Bachelor or Master Thesis in Psychology or an internship in this area? Great! Please contact us -> Prof. Dr. Ralf Schulze & Dr. Maike Pisters