How to make big decisions: A cross-sectional study on the decision making process in life choices

Abstract

People often make life choices that will affect their future (e.g. getting married). However, research on decision making focuses more on abstract dilemmas than on decision making. The aim of this study is threefold: to analyze (1) whether people rely mainly on intuitive or rational processing (System 1 or 2) when making life choices; (2) whether some characteristics of recalled life choices (e.g., difficulty in making the decision) differ between life areas (sentimental and work contexts); (3) whether personality traits and System 1 or 2 utilization may predict final satisfaction in life choices. By conducting a cross-sectional study on 188 participants’ recall of selected life decisions (in the sentimental and work life areas) we found that System 1 is more involved than System 2 in sentimental choices while the opposite happens for work ones. Lastly, satisfaction in life choices is partially predicted by the involvement of cognitive systems and individual differences, with different predictors emerging across life areas. Discussion suggests directions for future research on naturalistic decision making.

Development of the Rough Set Method to Determine Lecturer Scholarship Opportunities

“…The extension of the rough set model is a very important and broad research direction in rough set theory. Meanwhile, decision-making can be considered a mental process where humans make choices between several alternatives (Savioni et al, 2023;Willekens et al, 2017;Ibneatheer et al, 2023).…”

– The Asian Conference on Psychology & the Behavioral Sciences 2024 Official Conference Proceedings

“…Based on the research problem mentioned above, this study hypothesises that individuals who respond in their second language will do so in a risk-taking manner as compared to those who use their first language. In terms of decision making, research has found that individuals tend to use emotional reasoning in situations where sentiment comes into play and analytical reasoning in non-sentimental situations (Savioni et al, 2022). Though Larrick et al (1990) mentioned that the decisions an individual makes undergoes a cross-benefit analysis, current research noted that financial situations leading to a "sustained elevation of cortisol" led to higher rates of risk aversive behaviour and decisions (Kandasamy et al, 2014).…”

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