A Dimension of Cognitive Motivation: Need to Know the Known vs the Unknown

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Abstract
An investigation of preference of college Ss for information widely known vs information unknown to most other persons indicated that the majority of Ss preferred the “unknown” information. The higher an S‘s college aptitude, the stronger this preference. Correlated with preference for the “unknown” information were a desire to be cognitively challenged, an attraction toward cognitive enjoyment and novelty, an interest in broad questions and ideas, a feeling of cognitive self sufficiency and social introversion. Correlated with preference for the widely known items of information were a desire to evaluate oneself in relation to others and a trait of social extraversion.

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