Paper Title
Need for Cognition and Decision Making among Undergraduate Students

Abstract
The need of cognition of an individual refers to an individual’s willingness to engage in and enjoy mentally challenging tasks or in simple terms, it determines whether one likes to think. Further study suggests that this need of cognition of an individual is a determinant of intrinsic motivation over different spheres, whether it is mathematics, sciences, arts etc. It is often assumed that those who are willing to indulge in and enjoy complex thinking are good at decision making. This research aims at studying undergraduates students from two different streams- Engineering and Degree, and their Need for cognition and Decision Making. This study has two objectives; One is to determine whether there is a definitive difference in the need for cognition and decision making among students under different streams of study. Secondly, it aims to see whether there is a relationship between the student’s need for cognition and decision making, also looking into what aspects of decision making are affected by a person’s need for cognition. The sample was collected from 104 students from different colleges in and around Hyderabad. To measure Need for Cognition, the Need for Cognition scale by Cacioppo, J. T., Petty, R. E., & Kao, C. F was used and to measure Decision making the Decision Making Questionnaire (DMQ) wasused. Keywords - Need for Cognition, Decision Making, Undergraduate Students of Different Streams.