Researchers have long assumed that complex thinking is determined by both situational factors and stable, trait-based differences. However, although situational influences on complexity have been discussed at length in the literature, there is still no comprehensive integration of evidence regarding the theorized trait component of cognitive complexity. To fill this gap, we evaluate the degree that cognitive complexity is attributable to trait variance. Specifically, we review two domains of evidence pertaining to (a) the generalizability of individuals’ complex thinking across domains and the temporal stability of individuals’ complex thinking and (b) the relationship of complex thinking with conceptually related traits. Cumulatively, the literature suggests that persons’ cognitive complexity at any point in time results partially from a stable and generalizable trait component that accounts for a small-to-moderate amount of variance. It further suggests that cognitively complex persons are characterized by chronic trait-based differences in motivation and ability to think complexly.

长期以来，研究人员一直认为复杂的思维是由情境因素和稳定的、基于特质的差异决定的。然而，尽管在文献中已经详细讨论了情境对复杂性的影响，但仍然没有关于认知复杂性的理论特征成分的综合证据。为了填补这一空白，我们评估了认知复杂性归因于特质差异的程度。具体而言，我们回顾了与 (a) 个人复杂思维跨领域的普遍性和个人复杂思维的时间稳定性以及 (b) 复杂思维与概念相关特征的关系的两个证据领域。累计，文献表明，人在任何时间点的认知复杂性部分源于稳定且可概括的特征成分，该成分导致小到中等数量的差异。它还进一步表明，认知复杂的人的特点是基于慢性特质的差异动机和复杂思考的能力。