Validation of the Very Efficient Short-Form Need for Cognition Scale in Chinese: Detecting the effect of item orientation

Using a large-scale randomized survey experiment, this study examined the dimensionality, item functioning, instrument properties and associations with validity-related variables of the Very Efficient Short-Form Need for Cognition Scale (NCS-6) in Chinese and investigated whether its psychometric properties were affected by item orientation. For dimensionality, results indicated that a two-factor model demonstrated a superior fit to the data compared to the one-factor model when the NCS-6 contained mixed-worded items. The one-factor model showed excellent model fit when the NCS-6 contained only nonreversed or reversed items. For item functioning, factor loadings were invariant across experimental conditions, but item thresholds were not. For instrument properties, although the internal consistency reliabilities were excellent in each experimental condition, mean scores of the NCS-6 showed a decreasing pattern as the number of reversed items increased. For associations with validity-related variables, the structural relationships between NCS-6 and validity-related variables were not significantly different across experimental conditions. Overall, the dimensionality and instrument properties of the Chinese version NCS-6 were affected when it contained mixed-worded items.