Types of Analytic Thinkers

Abstract

ObjectiveAnalytic thinking dispositions are trait‐like individual differences in epistemic values and attitudes toward putting effort into thinking. Much‐studied dispositions include actively open‐minded thinking (AOT), the need for cognition (NFC), and cognitive reflection (CRT). However, it is unclear how different analytic thinking dispositions relate to each other.MethodThree studies (N = 339, N = 400, and N = 2484) used latent profile analysis to explore the combinations in which these dispositions occur.ResultsThree qualitatively different types of “highly analytic thinkers” and two types of non‐analytic thinkers emerged. Overall Analytic thinkers scored high on all three dispositions, while Open thinkers scored high on AOT and NFC but not CRT, and Reflective thinkers had the opposite pattern. The profiles differed in societally meaningful outcomes such as misinformation susceptibility and conspiracy mentality. While the Overall Analytic and Open profiles had rational thinking outcomes conventionally expected of analytic thinkers, the Reflective thinkers did not.ConclusionsAnalytic thinking dispositions are a profile construct, whose different components should be assessed separately. The somewhat common practice of pooling AOT and NFC into composite variables with CRT is not warranted, because it risks mislabeling participants and conflating research findings.