High NES individuals form opinions readily and spontaneously, report more evaluative thoughts, and are more likely to engage with attitude objects encountered incidentally. Conceptually distinct from NFC — NES reflects the tendency to evaluate (form judgments), while NFC reflects the tendency to think deeply. NES is correlated with NFC (r=0.35) and desire for control (r=0.22) but not with social desirability, locus of control, or self-monitoring. Predicts spontaneous evaluative thought generation, attitude formation toward social and political issues, and recall of autobiographical evaluative content.
5-point Likert (1=extremely uncharacteristic to 5=extremely characteristic); items summed (range 16–80). Reverse-score items 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 14, 16.
Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.
Reverse-score items 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 14, and 16 before summing. A two-factor solution (NEVAL+ and NEVAL–) fits slightly better than the unidimensional model but the authors recommend the overall NES score for most purposes. Test-retest reliability over 10 weeks: r=0.84 (n=70). Mean NES scores tend to be slightly higher for males than females. Median splits or tertile splits (high/medium/low NES) are commonly used in experimental designs.
Jarvis, W.B.G., & Petty, R.E. (1996). The need to evaluate. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70(1), 172–194.
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