Email this article 
Hide
Show all
How to Make Decisions in Style? Psychological Correlates of Decision-Making Styles
Abstract
Introduction: Decision-making styles are a research area of individual differences psychology. The construct of decision-making style refers to an individual’s relatively stable tendency to respond to decision-making tasks. It helps explain differences between individuals who make distinct choices in seemingly identical decision-making tasks and contexts.
Research Aim: The aim of the study was to determine correlations between decision-making styles and temperament, affect, thinking styles and coping with stress in early adults.
Research Method: A questionnaire study was conducted using standardized psychological tests: the General Decision Making Style Questionnaire (KSPD), the Sensation Seeking Scale ImpSS-8, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule PANAS, the Thinking Style Inventory TSI, and the Inventory for Measuring Coping with Stress Mini-COPE. A total of 280 individuals in the developmental stage of early adulthood (20−40 years old) were surveyed.
Results: Decision-making styles were found to statistically significantly correlate with temperament traits, trait affect, thinking styles and coping strategies.
Conclusion: The findings of the study expand the knowledge of the impact of the decision maker’s individual characteristics on the entire decision-making process. By examining the strength and nature of the relationships between young adults’ decision-making styles and selected personal variables, we were able to identify some of the characteristics that play a role in shaping those individuals’ adaptive and non-adaptive decision-making styles.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Alacreu-Crespo, A., Fuentes, M.C., Abad-Tortosa, D., Cano-Lopez, I., González, E., & Serrano, M.Á. (2019). Spanish validation of General Decision-Making Style scale: Sex invariance, sex differences and relationships with personality and coping styles. Judgment and Decision Making, 14(6), 739–751.
Allwood, C.M., & Salo, I. (2012). Decision-making styles and stress. International Journal of Stress Management, 19(1), 34–47. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027420
Bee, H. (2004). Psychologia rozwoju człowieka. Zysk i S-ka.
Baiocco, R., Laghi, F., & D’Alessio, M. (2009). Decision-making style among adolescents: Relationship with sensation seeking and locus of control. Journal of Adolescence, 32(4), 963–976. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2008.08.003
Bechara, A., Damasio, H., & Damasio, A.R. (2000). Emotion, decision making and the orbitofrontal cortex. Cerebral Cortex, 10, 295–307.
Brzozowski, P. (2010). Skala Uczuć Pozytywnych i Negatywnych SUPIN. Polska adaptacja skali PANAS Davida Watsona i Lee Anny Clark. Podręcznik. Pracownia Testów Psychologicznych Polskiego Towarzystwa Psychologicznego.
Carpenter, S.M., Yates, J.F., Preston, S.D., & Chen, L. (2016). Regulating emotions during difficult multiattribute decision making: The role of pre-decisional coherence shifting. PLoS ONE, 11(3), Article e0150873. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0150873
Carver, C.S. (1997). You want to measure coping but your protocol’s too long: Consider the Brief COPE. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 4(1), 92–100. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327558ijbm0401_6
Ciberti, A., Cavalletti, M., Palagini, L., Giorgi Mariani, M., Dell’Osso, L., Mauri, M., Maglio, A., Mucci, F., Marazziti, D., & Miniati, M. (2020). Decision-making, impulsiveness and temperamental traits in eating disorders. Clinical Neuropsychiatry, 17(4), 199–208. https://doi.org/10.36131/cnfioritieditore20200401
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Crane, M.F., Brouwers, S., Forrest, K., Tan, S., Loveday, T., Wiggins, M.W., Munday, C., & David, L. (2017). Positive affect is associated with reduced fixation in a realistic medical simulation. Hum Factors, 59(5), 821–832.
Crone, D.A., & Horner, R.H. (2003). Building Positive Behavior Support Systems in Schools. Functional Behavioral Assessment. Guilford Press.
Deniz, M.E. (2006). The relationships among coping with stress, life satisfaction, decision making styles and decision self-esteem: An investigation on Turkish university students. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 34, 1161–1170. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2006.34.9.1161
Dickman, S.J. (1990). Functional and dysfunctional impulsivity: Personality and cognitive correlates. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58(1), 95–102. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.58.1.95
Estrada, C.A., Isen, A.M., & Young, M.J. (1997). Positive affect facilitates integration of information and decreases anchoring in reasoning among physicians. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 72, 117–135.http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/obhd.1997.2734
Fan, J. (2016). The role of thinking styles in career decision-making self-efficacy among university students. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 20, 63–73. https://doi:10.1016/j.tsc.2016.03.001
Franken, I.H.A., & Muris, P. (2005). Individual differences in decision-making. Personality and Individual Differences, 39(5), 991–998. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2005.04.004
Fredrickson, B.L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56(3), 218–226. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.56.3.218
Gambetti, E., Fabbri, M., Bensi, L., & Tonetti, L. (2008). A contribution to the Italian validation of the General Decision-making Style Inventory. Personality and Individual Differences, 44(4), 842–852. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2007.10.017
Garfinkel, S.N., Zorab, E., Navaratnam, N., Engels, M., Mallorquí-Bagué, N., Minati, L., Dowell, N.G., Brosschot, J.F., Thayer, J.F., & Critchley, H.D. (2016). Anger in brain and body: The neural and physiological perturbation of decision-making by emotion. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 11(1), 150–158. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsv099
Gurba, E. (2011). Wczesna dorosłość. In J. Trempała (Ed.), Psychologia rozwoju człowieka (pp. 287–311). PWN.
Harlé, K.M., & Sanfey, A.G. (2007). Incidental sadness biases social economic decisions in the Ultimatum Game. Emotion, 7(4), 876–881. https://doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.7.4.876
Harren, V.A. (1979). A model of career decision making for college students. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 14(2), 119–133. https://doi.org/10.1016/0001-8791(79)90065-4
Hegedűs, K.M., Gál, B.I., Szkaliczki, A., Andó, B., Janka, Z., & Álmos, P.Z. (2021). Temperament, character and decision-making characteristics of patients with major depressive disorder following a suicide attempt. PLoS ONE, 16(5), e0251935. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0251935
Heszen-Niejodek, I. (2005). Teoria stresu psychologicznego i radzenia sobie. In J. Strelau (Ed.), Psychologia. Podręcznik Akademicki (vol. 3, pp. 465–492). GWP.
Hunt, E.B. (1994). Theoretical models for the study of intelligence. In D.K. Detterman (Ed.), Current Topics in Human Intelligence (pp. 233–256). Ablex Publishing Corporation.
Isen, A.M., & Daubman, K.A. (1984). The influence of affect on categorization. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47, 1206–1217.
Isen, A.M., Daubman, K.A., & Nowicki, G.P. (1987). Positive affect facilitates creative problem solving. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(6), 1122–1131. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.52.6.1122
Isen, A.M., & Means, B. (1983). The influence of positive affect on decision-making strategy. Social Cognition, 2(1), 18–31. https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.1983.2.1.18
Isen, A.M., Rosenzweig, A.S., & Young, M.J. (1991). The influence of positive affect on clinical problem solving. Medical Decision Making, 11, 221–227.
Juczyński, Z., & Ogińska-Bulik, N. (2009). Narzędzia pomiaru stresu i radzenia sobie ze stresem. PTP.
Keltner, D., & Lerner, J.S. (2010). Emotion. In D.T. Gilbert, S.T. Fiske, & G. Lindzey (Eds.), The Handbook of Social Psychology (pp. 317–352). Wiley.
Kertzman, S., Rauchverger, B., Waseem, S.Z., Weizman, A., Portuguese, S., & Grinshpoon, A. (2024). Relationship between coping styles and affective decision-making process among schizophrenia patients and healthy controls. Annals of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 7(1), 1048.
Kusev, P., Purser, H., Heilman, R., Cooke, A.J., Van Schaik, P., Baranova, V., Martin, R., & Ayton, P. (2017). Understanding risky behavior: The influence of cognitive, emotional and hormonal factors on decision-making under risk. Frontiers in Psychology, 8(102). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00102
Lazarus, R.S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, Appraisal and Coping. Springer.
Lerner, J.S., Li, Y., Valdesolo, P., & Kassam, K.S. (2015). Emotion and decision making. Annual Review of Psychology, 66(1), 799–823. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115043
Leykin, Y., & DeRubeis, R.J. (2010). Decision-making styles and depressive symptomatology: Development of the Decision Styles Questionnaire. Judgment and Decision Making, 5(7), 506–515.
Leykin, Y., Roberts, C.S., & DeRubeis, R.J. (2011). Decision-making and depressive symptomatology. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 35(4), 333–341.
Mann, L., Harmoni, R., & Power, C. (1989). Adolescent decision-making: The development of competence. Journal of Adolescence, 12(3), 265–278. https://doi.org/10.1016/0140-1971(89)90077-8
Matczak, A. (2000). Style poznawcze. In J. Strelau (Ed.), Psychologia. Podręcznik Akademicki (vol. 2, pp. 761–782). GWP.
Nosal, C.S. (2000). Różnice w stylach myślenia i uczenia się. Przegląd Psychologiczny, 43(4), 469–480.
Palacz-Chrisidis, A. (2019). Podmiotowe mediatory związku między temperamentem a problemowymi zachowaniami hazardowymi młodzieży. [Unpublished PhD dissertation]. Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II.
Pellerone, M. (2013). Identity status, coping strategy and decision making process among Italian University Students. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 106, 1399–1408. https://doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.12.156
Phillips, S.D., Pazienza, N.J., & Ferrin, H.H. (1984). Decision-Making Styles and Problem-Solving Appraisal. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 31(4), 497–502. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.31.4.497.
Phillips, W.J., Fletcher, J.M., Marks, A.D.G., & Hine, D.W. (2016). Thinking styles and decision making: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 142(3), 260–290. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000027
Pilowsky, I. (1979). Further validation of a questionnaire method for classifying depressive illness. Journal of Affective Disorders, 1, 179–185.
Rosenthal, J.A. (1996). Qualitative descriptors of strength of association and effect size. Journal of Social Service Research, 21(4), 37–59. https://doi.org/10.1300/J079v21n04_02.
Rowe, A.J., & Mason, R.O. (1987). Managing with Style: A Guide to Understanding, Assessing, and Improving Decision Making. Jossey-Bass.
Salo, I., & Allwood, M. (2011). Decision-making styles, stress and gender among investigators. Policing, 34(1), 97–119.
Schwartz, B., Ward, A., Monterosso, J., Lyubomirsky, S., White, K., & Lehman, D.R. (2002). Maximizing versus satisficing: Happiness is a matter of choice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(5), 1178–1197. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.83.5.1178
Scott, S.G., & Bruce, R.A. (1995). Decision-making style: The development and assessment of a new measure. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 55(5), 818–831. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164495055005017
Sitko, E. (2023). Wybrane psychologiczne uwarunkowania stylów podejmowania decyzji u osób we wczesnej dorosłości. [Unpublished PhD dissertation]. Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II.
Small D.A., & Lerner J.S. (2008). Emotional policy: Personal sadness and anger shape judgments about a welfare case. Political Psychology, 29, 149–168. https://doi:10.1111/j.1467-9221.2008.00621.x
Sternberg, R.J. (1994). Thinking styles: Theory and assessment at the interface between intelligence and personality. In R. J. Sternberg, P. Ruzgis (Eds.), Personality and Intelligence (pp. 169–187). Cambridge University Press.
Sternberg, R.J., & Wagner, R.W. (1991). Thinking Style Inventory. Star Mountain Projects.
Strelau, J. (2004). Temperament. In J. Strelau (Ed.), Psychologia. Podręcznik akademicki (vol. 2, pp. 683–719). GWP.
Strzałecki, A., & Wiśniewska, E. (2010). Style myślenia według. R. J. Sternberga, Uwarunkowania psychologiczne. Przegląd Psychologiczny, 53(1), 33–59.
Thunholm, P. (2004). Decision-making style: Habit, style or both? Personality and Individual Differences, 36(4), 931–944. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(03)00162-4
Thunholm, P. (2008). Decision-making styles and physiological correlates of negative stress: Is there a relation? Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 49(3), 213–219. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9450.2008.00640.x
Tugade, M.M., & Fredrickson, B.L. (2002). Positive emotions and emotional intelligence. In L.F. Barrett, P. Salovey (Eds.), The Wisdom in Feeling: Psychological Processes in Emotional Intelligence (pp. 319–340). Guilford Press.
Valdesolo, P., & Graham, J. (2014). Awe, uncertainty, and agency detection. Psychological Science, 25(1), 170–178. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797613501884
Watson, D. (2000). Mood and Temperament. Guilford Press.
Watson, D., & Clark, L.A. (1992). Affects separable and inseparable: On the hierarchical arrangement of the negative affects. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62(3), 489–505. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.62.3.489
Watson, D., & Tellegen, A. (1985). Toward a consensual structure of mood. Psychological Bulletin, 98(2), 219–235. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.98.2.219
Webster, G.D., & Crysel, L.C. (2012). ‘Hit Me, Maybe, One More Time’: Brief measures of impulsivity and sensation seeking and their prediction of blackjack bets and sexual promiscuity. Journal of Research in Personality, 46(5), 591–598.
Zhang, L.F., & Sternberg, R.J. (2009). Revisiting the value issue in intellectual styles. In L.F. Zhang & R. Sternberg (Eds.), Perspectives on the Nature of Intellectual Styles (pp. 63–85). Springer Publishing Company.
Zuckerman, M. (1994). Behavior Expression Biosocial Bases of Sensation Seeking. Cambridge University Press.
Zuckerman, M., Kuhlman, D.M., Thornquist, M., & Kiers, H. (1991). Five (or three) robust questionnaire scale factors of personality without culture. Personality and Individual Differences, 12(9), 929–941. https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(91)90182-B
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/lrp.2025.44.1.65-85
Date of publication: 2025-03-25 23:48:48
Date of submission: 2024-04-15 22:26:43
Statistics
Indicators
Copyright (c) 2025 Ewelina Sitko, Martyna Płudowska, Barbara Cichy-Jasiocha, Rafał Bartczuk, Andrzej Edward Sękowski
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.