Making Sense of a Most Popular Metaphor in Management: Towards a HedgeFox Scale for Cognitive Styles

Abstract

Research on cognitive style has gathered momentum over the past 40 years, especially with respect to learning, problem-solving, and decision-making. This investigation adapts Tetlock's hedgehog-fox scale for German-speaking respondents through three large-scale studies (n = 17,072) and examines the influence of cognitive style on employees' public value assessments of their employing organizations. Our data led us to propose a revised and more economical HedgeFox Scale. In contrast with Tetlock's findings, our results provide empirical and theoretical arguments for a two-factor structure. This shift in dimensionality affects the nature of the construct and aligns hedgehog-fox research with the latest developments in cognitive style research. Our results contribute to the ongoing interest in the dimensionality of cognitive styles and support the call for a more diverse picture. Finally, we provide recommendations for individuals and organizations.

Breaking the Wall Between Business and Design—Becoming a Hedgefox

“…Cognitive style research offers knowledge and tools to understand differences in decision making, teamwork, learning, and creativity. Ultimately, cognitive styles are used to understand humans with respect to their preferred way of processing information and deriving meaning or value (Armstrong, Cools, and Sadler‐Smith, , cited in Meynhardt, Carolin, and Anderer, , pp. 1–3).…”

“…Third, they prefer to maneuver in structured and analytical environments, where they deal with classifiable and manageable information that can be boiled down to right or wrong decisions. On the other hand, hedgehogs are uncomfortable with ambiguity and may find it difficult to incorporate new ideas or information that is not aligned with their established thinking or experiences (Gomez and Meynhardt, ; Meynhardt et al., , ).…”

“…Together, these qualities prepare the fox to successfully handle uncertain situations, crises, or conflicts. On the other hand, embracing ambiguity and continuously considering multiple viewpoints may lead foxes to be confused and overloaded with information, which could limit their ability to communicate or act (Meynhardt et al., , ). Table provides an overview of the characteristics of the hedgehog and fox cognitive styles.…”

“…Recent developments in cognitive style research also suggest that there are some individuals who can be hedgehogs and foxes at the same time (Meynhardt et al., ). This led to the understanding that hedgehogness and foxiness may not be mutually exclusive.…”

“…Such hybridity is referred to and embodied in the hedgefox metaphor. Moreover, the term hedgefox refers to individuals who are not only able to hold both hedgehog and fox views, even if they are contradicting, but also potentially switch between their hedgehogness and their foxiness based on the situation (Meynhardt et al., ).…”