The empirical development of the normative message processing scale

The empirical development of a Normative Message Processing Scale (NMPS) is presented. An argument is made for the need to develop an instrument that distinguishes between the tendency to engage in message processing that is selective, effortful, and highly deliberate and message processing that is unselective, low effort, and nondeliberate. Because self reported differences in exerted cognitive effort may indicate both quantitative and qualitative differences in message processing, effort‐based instruments do not allow specific predictions regarding the processing habits of low effort individuals. Understanding and measuring the processing characteristics of high and low effort individuals may explain observed differences in performances between individuals with a high or low need for cognition and between individuals induced to perform in a mindful or mindless manner. Five studies are presented, reporting on the development, conceptual validation, and behavioral validation of the NMPS. In addition, the conceptual and predictive validity of the NMPS is compared to related trait information‐processing instruments. The usefulness of the NMPS in communication research is discussed.