Cognitive Styles: A Factor Analysis of Six Dimensions with Implications for Consolidation

Abstract

Researchers have repeatedly suggested that several dimensions of cognitive style may be related by a common factor or factors. The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationships among six of the more commonly studied and reliably measured dimensions of cognitive style. Those assessed were field independence/field dependence, reflectivity/impulsivity, broad/narrow categorizing, intolerance for ambiguity, cognitive complexity/simplicity, and automatization/restructuring. Seven commonly used measures were administered to 99 youth in Grade 11. Using principal components factor analysis, the six dimensions were reduced to three, accounting for 59.5% of the total variance. These were called deliberation, assimilation, and flexibility. The cognitive style dimensions of reflectivity with field independence loaded together on the factor named deliberation while assimilation included automatization and broad categorizing. Tolerance for ambiguity, field independence, and cognitive complexity comprised the factor named flexibility.