Assessing Individual Differences in Decision Making Styles: Analytical vs. Intuitive

Author(s):  
Thomas E. Nygren ◽  
Rebecca J. White

Decision strategies are often characterized as being intuition-based or analytically-based. The use of these strategies is proposed to be associated with individual differences in propensity toward using different decision making styles. A reliable self-report measure, the Decision Making Styles Inventory (DMI), consisting of 15 items on each of three scales was constructed. The items were found to differentiate among an “analytical”, an “intuitive”, and a “regret-based” emotional decision making style. The analytical and intuitive scales were found to predict differences in performance in a complex dynamic decision making task. on a decision making subtask, a greater general reliance on an analytical decision making style was found to lead to poorer performance. Greater reliance on a more intuitive approach had no effect on this subtask, but was found to predict better performance as workload levels increased. These findings suggest that human performance may be significantly influenced when either a more intuitive or analytical decision style is used. Implications for training the adaptive decision maker are discussed.

Author(s):  
Thomas E. Nygren ◽  
Rebecca J. White

The theoretical and applied distinction between a propensity toward a more intuitive decision style versus a more analytical style has gained prominence in recent years. A self-report measure, the Decision Making Styles Inventory, is presented and is shown to differentiate among those who endorse an analytical, an intuitive, or an avoidant, regret-based decision style. Results from one study, a horse race betting task, indicated that those who endorsed a decision style, particularly those endorsing a flexible analytical and intuitive style, performed better on the task than those who did not. A second study clearly showed that decision style was related to self reports of self-efficacy, optimism, and self-regard. These results suggest that having either an analytical, intuitive or combined decision style is beneficial to the decision maker.


i-com ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 181-200
Author(s):  
Diana C. Hernandez-Bocanegra ◽  
Jürgen Ziegler

Abstract Providing explanations based on user reviews in recommender systems (RS) may increase users’ perception of transparency or effectiveness. However, little is known about how these explanations should be presented to users, or which types of user interface components should be included in explanations, in order to increase both their comprehensibility and acceptance. To investigate such matters, we conducted two experiments and evaluated the differences in users’ perception when providing information about their own profiles, in addition to a summarized view on the opinions of other customers about the recommended hotel. Additionally, we also aimed to test the effect of different display styles (bar chart and table) on the perception of review-based explanations for recommended hotels, as well as how useful users find different explanatory interface components. Our results suggest that the perception of an RS and its explanations given profile transparency and different presentation styles, may vary depending on individual differences on user characteristics, such as decision-making styles, social awareness, or visualization familiarity.


2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (8/9) ◽  
pp. 497-510
Author(s):  
Gihani S. Rajapakse ◽  
K. Kiran

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore succession planning in academic libraries, specifically to understand how succession planning is carried out and how the decisions-making styles of library managers influence each stage of the succession planning. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative approach was used to gather data through a document analysis and interviews with library managers at four Sri Lankan university libraries. Data analysis was done applying the framework analysis (FA) tool. Findings The study revealed that succession planning has been practiced in Sri Lankan university libraries to develop a bench strength, skilled backup for key positions at all levels, while inculcating leadership competencies in their respective positions. The dominant decision style is the identifiable decision-making style within the succession planning process. Research limitations/implications The volume of the data obtained depends largely on the participants’ responses, and the interpretation of the data is subjected to minimum personal biasness of the researcher. Practical implications An understanding of how decision-making styles influence practices of succession planning contributes to assist library managers to carry out succession planning within the limitations of their autonomy to do so. The findings of this study benefit library managers in recognizing their own decision-making styles and the level of succession planning they have achieved. Social implications Library managers’ decision-making style can have an influence on how succession planning is carried out successfully at an academic library to ensure continuity of the library’s mission and vision. Originality/value This is the first known study to investigate how decision-making style of the manager influences each level of the succession planning at an academic library. The use of a systematic FA method for the qualitative data analysis reveals trustworthy results.


2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 227-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abira Reizer ◽  
Mario Mikulincer

Abstract. In the current series of studies, we developed a self-report measure of mental representations of caregiving (MRC). Study 1 (N = 841) describes the development and factor structure of the MRC scale. Studies 2-4 provided convergent, discriminant, and construct validity of the MRC scale, by examining its associations with attachment dimensions, empathy, emotional control, relational interdependent self-construal, communal orientation, and value priorities. Study 5 revealed significant associations between caregiving representations and parenting attitudes (desire to have a child, feelings toward parenthood, and expectations of self-efficacy as a parent). Overall, the results provide highly consistent evidence for the reliability and validity of the new MRC scale. The implications of individual differences in mental representation of caregiving for prosocial behavior and helping are discussed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom J. Barry ◽  
Bram Vervliet ◽  
Dirk Hermans

Anxiety disorders are often treated by repeatedly presenting stimuli that are perceptually similar to original stimuli to which fear was originally acquired. Fear can return after it is extinguished because of the differences between these stimuli. It may possible to attenuate return of fear by manipulating attention to the commonalities between feared stimuli and extinction stimuli. After acquiring fear for an animal-like stimulus by pairing with an electro-cutaneous shock, fear was extinguished by repeatedly presenting a similar stimulus. During extinction participants were asked questions that instructed them to attend towards the features in common between the acquisition and extinction stimulus or towards the unique features of the extinction stimulus. Return of fear was assessed by presenting a second perceptually similar stimulus after extinction. Participants showed a return in skin conductance responding after extinction in the unique condition, and not in the common condition. Both groups showed a return in self-report ratings of US expectancy. Neither group showed a return in fear potentiated startle, but there was evidence that this may have been due to individual differences in emotional attentional control. Our conclusions are limited by the use of a self-report measure of emotional attentional control and the absence of limits on the length of time participants could take to answer the extinction questions. It may be possible to enhance extinction and prevent a return of the physiological aspects of fear by manipulating attention during extinction. However, this does not appear to influence explicit expectancy of aversive outcomes. Individual differences in attentional control may influence this process.


2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 422-444
Author(s):  
Jia Liu ◽  
Asim Ansari

The authors develop an incentive-aligned experimental paradigm to study how consumer purchase dynamics are affected by the interplay between competing firms’ loyalty programs and their pricing and promotional strategies. In this experiment, participants made sequential choices between two competing airlines in a stylized frequent traveler task for which an optimal dynamic decision policy can be numerically computed. The authors find that, on average, participants are able to partially realize the long-term benefits from loyalty programs, though most are sensitive to price. They also find that participants’ preferences and levels of bounded rationality depend on the nature of the competitive environment, the particular state of each decision scenario, and the type of optimal action. Accordingly, the authors use an approximate dynamic programming model to incorporate boundedly rational decision making. The model classifies participants into five segments that exhibit variation in their performance and decision strategies. Importantly, they find that participants are able to adapt their decision strategies to the environment they face, and thus the overall market outcome and the performance of each firm are influenced by both the competitive environment and the assumption on the extent of consumer optimality.


Author(s):  
Alex Kirlik ◽  
Ling Rothrock ◽  
Neff Walker ◽  
Arthur D. Fisk

Decision makers in operational environments perform in a world of dynamism, time pressure, and uncertainty. Perhaps the most stable empirical finding to emerge from naturalistic studies in these domains is that, despite apparent task complexity, performers only rarely report the use of complex, enumerative decision strategies. If we accept that decision making in these domains is often effective, we are presented with a dilemma: either decision strategies are (covertly) more complex than these performers claim, or these tasks are (subtlely) more simple than they might appear. We present a set of empirical findings and modeling results which suggest the latter explanation: that the simplicity of decision making is not merely apparent but largely real, and that tasks of high apparent complexity may yet admit to rather simple types of decision strategies. We also discuss empirical evidence that sheds light on the error forms resulting from the tendency of performers to seek and employ heuristic solutions to dynamic, uncertain decision problems.


2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (7) ◽  
pp. 3069-3094 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia A. Minson ◽  
Frances S. Chen ◽  
Catherine H. Tinsley

We develop an 18-item self-report measure of receptiveness to opposing views. Studies 1a and 1b present the four-factor scale and report measures of internal, convergent, and discriminant validity. In study 2, more receptive individuals chose to consume proportionally more information from U.S. senators representing the opposing party than from their own party. In study 3, more receptive individuals reported less mind wandering when viewing a speech with which they disagreed, relative to one with which they agreed. In study 4, more receptive individuals evaluated supporting and opposing policy arguments more impartially. In study 5, we find that voters who opposed Donald Trump but reported being more receptive at the time of the election were more likely to watch the inauguration, evaluate the content of the inauguration speech in a more even-handed manner, and select a more balanced portfolio of news outlets for later consumption than their less receptive counterparts. We discuss the scale as a tool to investigate the role of receptiveness for conflict, decision making, and collaboration. This paper was accepted by Elke Weber, judgment and decision making.


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