The relations of reflective and intuitive thinking styles with task performance: A meta-analysis

We conducted a meta-analysis to examine the relations of individual differences in reflective (or rational) and intuitive thinking styles with workplace task performance. We meta-analyzed 113 effect sizes from 71 independent samples (N = 11,713). Results indicate that reflective thinking style has a positive and non-zero meta-analytic relation with task performance (rho =.213). This positive relation is stronger in environments characterized by higher task complexity, greater importance of creativity and innovation for work tasks, and higher time pressure associated with work tasks. Intuitive thinking style, conversely, has a very small but positive meta-analytic relation with task performance (rho =.051), and this relation is stronger in environments characterized by higher task complexity. Finally, incremental validity analyses reveal that reflective thinking style explains unique variance in task performance, beyond conscientiousness and intelligence (general mental ability). Overall, this meta-analysis demonstrates that reflective thinking style is an important antecedent to task performance.

Automated summary

Reflective thinking style is positively related to task performance, especially in environments with high task complexity, importance of creativity and innovation, and time pressure; Intuitive thinking style has a weaker but still positive relationship with task performance, particularly in complex task environments; Reflective thinking style provides unique explanatory power in task performance.