Fig 1.
Processes linking Need for Cognition to Self-Control.
NFC = Need for Cognition. Illustration of potential explanatory mechanisms that can be derived from literature. The solid-line box represents the role of Action Orientation related to resource allocation for the prediction of Self-Control by Need for Cognition while the dashed-line boxes represent explanatory mechanisms this study did not focus on.
Fig 2.
Summary of a second-order factor model of Self-Control.
N = 1209. Standardized estimates (estimator = robust maximum likelihood), item parcels as manifest indicator variables (see text for details). Unstandardized loadings of first-order factors were set equal. SC = general Self-Control. EC = Effortful Control. TSC = Trait Self-Control. All paths significant with p < .001.
Table 1.
Fit statistics for measurement models of Self-Control.
Fig 3.
Structural equation models of Need for Cognition and Action Orientation predicting Self-Control.
N = 1209. Standardized estimates, item parcels as manifest indicator variables (see text for details). NFC = Need for Cognition. AO = Action Orientation. SC = general Self-Control. EC = Effortful Control. TSC = Trait Self-Control. (A) Baseline model. (B) Moderation model, interaction term calculated with residual indicators following the procedure by Little et al. [61], intercorrelations of residuals are not displayed. (C) Mediation Model. (D) Complete Mediation Model. Baseline model (A) similar to mediation model (C) except for the association of NFC with AO being bidirectional in (A) and unidirectional in (C).
Table 2.
Fit statistics for mediation and moderation models to predict Self-Control.
Fig 4.
Evolution of coefficients with increasing sample size.
Horizontal line = final effect in the total sample. Grey area = corridor of stability. POS = point of stability, i.e., sample size after which the indirect effect did not leave the corridor of stability anymore. Models were fit with sample size starting at n = 200 and then increasing by n = 20 until the final sample size of N = 1209 was reached. Left panel: Evolution of the indirect effect of Need for Cognition on Self-Control via Action Orientation in the partial mediation model, where the corridor of stability is the final effect together ± its final standard error. Right panel: Evolution of the Root Mean Error of Approximation (RMSEA) as fit measure, where the corridor of stability is the 90% confidence interval of RMSEA.