Decision-Making | Psychology Today

When making a decision, we form opinions and choose actions via mental processes which are influenced by biases, reason, emotions, and memories. Skiptomaincontent Decision-Making ReviewedbyPsychologyTodayStaff Chocolateorstrawberry?Lifeordeath?Wemakesomechoicesquicklyandautomatically,relyingonmentalshortcutsourbrainshavedevelopedovertheyearstoguideusinthebestcourseofaction.Understandingstrategiessuchasmaximizingvs.satisficing,fastversusslowthinking,andfactorssuchasrisktoleranceandchoiceoverload,canleadtobetteroutcomes. Contents TheArtofDecision-Making HowtoMakeGoodDecisions AvoidingBadDecisions TheArtofDecision-Making Whenmakingadecision,weformopinionsandchooseactionsviamentalprocesseswhichareinfluencedbybiases,reason,emotions,andmemories.Thesimpleactofdecidingsupportsthenotionthatwehavefreewill.Weweighthebenefitsandcostsofourchoice,andthenwecopewiththeconsequences.Factorsthatlimittheabilitytomakegooddecisionsincludemissingorincompleteinformation,urgentdeadlines,andlimitedphysicaloremotionalresources. Whatarethetypesofdecision-making? CreatedwithSketch. Whenpeopleareputinafamiliarsituation,theirdecisionsareoftenfastandautomatic,basedonlongtimeexperiencewithwhatworksandwhatdoesn’t.However,whenencounteringasituationthey’veneverbeeninbefore,theyhavetotaketimetoweighthepotentialbenefitsandriskswhenchoosingacourseofaction.Theyaremorelikelytomakemistakesandfacenegativeconsequences. Whatisinformeddecision-making? CreatedwithSketch. Theabilitytothinkcriticallyiskeytomakinggooddecisionswithoutsuccumbingtocommonerrorsorbias.Thismeansnotjustgoingwithyourgut,butratherfiguringoutwhatknowledgeyoulackandobtainingit.Whenyoulookatallpossiblesourcesofinformationwithanopenmind,youcanmakeaninformeddecisionbasedonfactsratherthanintuition. Whatarethemethodsofgooddecision-making? CreatedwithSketch. Asatisficingapproachtomakingdecisionsinvolvessettlingforagood-enoughoutcome,evenifit’sflawed.Amaximizingapproach,ontheotherhand,waitsforconditionstobeasperfectaspossibletominimizepotentialrisks.Peoplewhomakegooddecisionsknowwhenit’simportanttoactimmediately,andwhenthere’stimetowaitandgathermorefactsbeforemakingtheirchoice. articlecontinuesafteradvertisement HowtoMakeGoodDecisions Howdowechoosebetweentwoormoreoptionsthatseemequallyappealingonthesurface?Decision-makingusuallyinvolvesamixtureofintuitionandrationalthinking;criticalfactors,includingpersonalbiasesandblindspots,areoftenunconscious,whichmakesdecision-makinghardtofullyoperationalize,orgetahandleon. However,therearestepstoensurethatpeoplemakeconsistentlyexcellentchoices,includinggatheringasmuchinformationaspossible,consideringallthepossiblealternatives,aswellastheirattendantbenefitsandcosts,andtakingthetimetosleeponweightierdecisions. Howdoyouknowifyou’vemadeagooddecision? CreatedwithSketch. Inlife,thereisoftenno“right”decision.Whensurroundedbyanabundanceofoptions,it’seasytoexperiencedecisionparalysisorfeellesssatisfiedwithyourdecisions.Youmayevenblameyourselfwhenreallyyouaregoingthrough“choiceoverload.”Thekeyistofindwaystosimplifyyourdecisionandnotruminateoverthemanyroadsnottaken. Whatskillsarenecessarywhenmakingdecisions? CreatedwithSketch. Decision-makingcanbestressful,andfollow-throughisessential.Youmayneedtoacceptthatpanic,fear,andlackofself-confidenceareoftenpartofthedecision-makingprocess.It’scrucialtogetenoughsleep,soyoucanthinkclearly.Trytokeepyourprioritiesstraight.Carefullyweighthetrade-offs,committoadecision,andthenfollowthroughonit. Howcanyousharpenyourdecision-makingskills? CreatedwithSketch. Slowdownthedecision-makingprocesstopreventimpulsivechoices.Beawareofcommonsalesstrategieslikenudgesandthedecoyeffect,whichintroducesatrickoptiontogetindividualstomakeacertaindecision.Gatherasmuchinformationasyoucan,anddon’tallowthedesiresofotherstodictateyourdecision. AvoidingBadDecisions Thefieldofbehavioraleconomicsdemonstratedthatpeoplearenotalwaysrationalwhenitcomestodecisionmaking.Fortunately,mostpersonalandprofessionalchoiceshavefewornolong-term,negativeconsequences.However,sometimesapersonhastomakeadecisionthatwillhaveaprofoundimpactontheirfuture—fromwhotheymarrytowheretheylivetohowtheymanagetheirprofessionalcareer.Inthesecases,it’simportanttoavoidthecommonpitfallsthatcanleadtopoordecision-making.Thesecanincludedoingtoolittleortoomuchresearch,mistakingopinionsforfacts,decisionfatigue,afailuretolearnfrompasterrors,andmore. HowcanIhelpsomeonewhomakesbaddecisions? CreatedwithSketch. Don’ttrytomakethedecisionyouwouldmake,orrailroadthemintosimplyactingquicklyiftheyarevacillatingaboutanimportantmatter.Rather,helpthemcultivatequalitiesofmindthatwillservebeyondjustthismoment,andencouragethemtothinkthroughtheiroptionsbysimplyandrespectfullyaskingquestions. Howdopeoplerationalizebaddecisions? CreatedwithSketch. Therearetwotypesofrationalizationthatpeoplecommonlyengagein:prospectiveandretrospective.Prospectiverationalizingreferstorationalizingadecisionbeforemakingit,whereasretrospectiverationalizingreferstorationalizingadecisionafterthefact. Canpeoplehavetoomanyoptions? CreatedwithSketch. Inthe2000s,BarrySchwarzcoinedthephrasetheparadoxofchoicetodescribethefactthatAmericanconsumershavesomanychoicesfromwhichtochoosethattheyoftenwastetimeandmind-spacesecond-guessingthemselvesandcomparingtrivialdifferences. Cantoomanypeopleruinthedecision-makingprocess? CreatedwithSketch. Whenalargenumberofpeopleareinvolvedinmakingadecision,theprocesscanbeusurpedbygroupthink.Groupthinkiswhenwell-intentionedindividualsmakepoororirrationalchoicesoutofadesiretoconformoravoiddissent.Asaresult,groupmembersmayfeelpressuredtoignoreethicalconsiderationsandrefrainfromexpressingnaturaldoubtsandconcerns. 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