Putting it in layman’s terms, a new study suggests that if you want to be a big success on Facebook, it helps to be a dullard:
People who like to challenge their minds have high NFC (need for cognition), while those who avoid deep thinking have low NFC. Whereas, according to the authors, “high NFC individuals possess an intrinsic motivation to think, having a natural motivation to seek knowledge,” those with low NFC don’t like to grapple with complexity and tend to content themselves with superficial assessments, particularly when faced with difficult intellectual challenges.
The researchers surveyed 436 college students during 2010. Each participant completed a standard psychological assessment measuring NFC as well as a questionnaire measuring social network use. (Given what we know about college students’ social networking in 2010, it can be assumed that the bulk of the activity consisted of Facebook use.) The study revealed a significant negative correlation between social network site (SNS) activity and NFC scores.
“The key finding,” the authors write, “is that NFC played an important role in SNS use. Specifically, high NFC individuals tended to use SNS less often than low NFC people, suggesting that effortful thinking may be associated with less social networking among young people.” Moreover, “high NFC participants were significantly less likely to add new friends to their SNS accounts than low or medium NFC individuals.” Source
Now I don’t feel so bad for not using Facebook. Are you a Smart Blogger or a Facebook Dullard?
P.s.: Although I might have thought it, those aren’t my words so please don’t shoot the messenger. Especially my dullard cousin who also uses Facebook.
