Don’t panic!? Need for Cognition as individual resource using the example of the COVID-19 pandemic

Climate crisis, war, or the COVID-19 pandemic are recent challenging situations that have confronted entire populations with high levels of uncertainty. During the pandemic, population wide increases of depression and anxiety levels were reported, and additionally, misinformation regarding COVID-19 spread rapidly further increasing uncertainty. Based on previous research we examined Need for Cognition as a potential resource during the pandemic. We analyzed data of two US-American samples (N = 2135) to investigate associations between the investment trait NFC and anxiety, depression, as well as fake news beliefs in the context of COVID-19. Our results provide evidence for negative associations of NFC with fake news beliefs. Individuals with higher NFC levels tended to report lower levels of anxiety and depression, partly explained by more adaptive emotion regulation. Our results indicate that NFC may be a valuable resource when confronted with stressors and uncertainty in times of crisis.