Need for cognitive closure in relatives of long-term missing persons

The aim of this study was to explore the Need for Cognitive Closure (NCC) in 61 relatives of missing persons residing in Spain and to determine the intensity with which they need to establish a definitive answer to avoid uncertainty. The construct was measured using the TR-NCC adapted to Spanish. This is a cross-sectional, exploratory, descriptive, and correlational study, in which the SPSS-25 program was used. The results revealed a mean value in the Need for Cognitive Closure and in the urgency tendency, as well as high values in the permanence tendency. A significant relationship was found with a moderate degree of association, between the predominant tendency of NCC and the participant’s family relationship with the missing person. Specifically, being the mother of the missing person was associated with a predominance of the urgency tendency, being their child with a predominance of the permanence tendency, and being their partner with no predominance. It is concluded that among the relatives of long-term missing persons, there is a prevailing willingness to preserve the information and conclusions reached, without having developed a closed mindset or a constant desire to rethink. It is also suggested that, although most participants may have passed the crystallization interval of their beliefs, mothers may have a different and higher threshold for establishing cognitive closure, a hypothesis that needs to be investigated in greater depth.