Abstract
The need for cognitive closure describes the extent to which a person, faced with a decision, prefers any answer in lieu of continued uncertainty. This construct may be relevant in lung cancer screening, which can both reduce and increase uncertainty. We examined whether individual differences in need for cognitive closure are associated with Veterans’ completion of lung cancer screening using a self-administered survey (N = 361). We also assessed whether need for cognitive closure moderates an association between screening completion and lung cancer risk perception. Contrary to our main hypothesis, high need for cognitive closure Veterans were not more likely to complete lung cancer screening and need for cognitive closure did not have a moderating role.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1109-1117 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Journal of Health Psychology |
Volume | 25 |
Issue number | 8 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 1 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This material is the result of work supported with resources and the use of facilities at the Minneapolis VA Center for Chronic Disease Outcomes Research. The authors thank Dr Erika Waters for her thoughtful input on these findings. The author(s) received the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by VA Health Services Research & Development Locally Initiated Project (LIP 67-046), the VA HSR&D Associated Health Postdoctoral Fellowship (S.E.L.), and the VA HSR&D Research Career Scientist Award (RCS 10-185 to M.R.P.). The funders had no role in study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2018.
Keywords
- attitudes
- decision making
- lung cancer screening
- need for cognitive closure
- uncertainty