The latent structure of decision styles

Workforce perceptions of human factors as indicators of plant reliability and process safety

Human factors, as perceived by the maintenance workforce, were used as the measure for comparing work areas within a petroleum company. These factors were then compared to an objective measure of reliability (Mean Time Between Failures) in order to determine which factors would be most predictive of plant reliability and process safety. Maintenance personnel were surveyed using scales based on Problem-solving, Vigilance, Design and maintenance, Job-related feedback and Information about change. Analysis of Variance was used to assess the strength of these variables in relation to Reliability Level. Significant differences were observed between different reliability levels based on workforce perceptions of problem-solving requirements and the design and maintainability of plant. Conclusions were that perceptions of human factors in the workplace can be predictive of group-level performance, and that if issues relating to design and maintainability are not addressed at the design stage, greater problem-solving abilities will be required from maintenance personnel. Practitioner summary: Workforce perceptions of plant performance could provide a statistically valid measure of current and future reliability. A survey of perceptions of human factors was conducted with maintenance personnel in a petroleum company. Results indicated significant relationships between reliability and requirements for Problem-solving, as well as Design and Maintenance of equipment. Abbreviations: HFIT: human factors investigation tool, FPSO: floating production, storage and offtake, MTBF: mean time between failures, CPS: cognitive problem- solving, WDS: work design questionnaire, SPSS: statistical package for the social sciences, PAF: principal axis factoring, ANOVA: analysis of variance, ANCOVA: analysis of co-variance, M: mean, SD: standard deviation.

Smoker profiles and their influence on smokers' intention to use a digital decision aid aimed at the uptake of evidence-based smoking cessation tools: An explorative study

OBJECTIVES

Evidence-based smoking cessation support tools (EBSTs) can double the quitting chances, but uptake among smokers is low. A digital decision aid (DA) could help smokers choose an EBST in concordance with their values and preferences, but it is unclear which type of smokers are interested in a digital DA. We hypothesized that smokers' general decision-making style (GDMS) could be used to identify early adopters. This study therefore aimed to identify smoker profiles based on smokers' GDMS and investigate these profiles' association with intention to use a digital DA.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional dataset (N = 200 smokers intending to quit) was used to perform a hierarchical cluster analysis based on smokers' GDMS scores.

METHODS

Clusters were compared on demographic and socio-cognitive variables. Mediation analyses were conducted to see if the relationship between cluster membership and intention was mediated through socio-cognitive variables (e.g., attitude).

RESULTS

Two clusters were identified; " Avoidant Regretters " (n = 134) were more avoidant, more regretful and tended to depend more on others in their decision making, while " Intuitive Non-regretters " (n = 66) were more spontaneous and intuitive in their decision making. Cluster membership was significantly related to intention to use a DA, with " Avoidant Regretters " being more interested. Yet, this association ceased to be significant when corrected for socio-cognitive variables (e.g., attitude). This indicates that cluster membership affected intention via socio-cognitive variables.

CONCLUSIONS

The GDMS can be used to identify smokers who are interested in a digital DA early on. As such, the GDMS can be used to tailor recruitment and DA content.

"Dysrationalia" Among University Students: The Role of Cognitive Abilities, Different Aspects of Rational Thought and Self-Control in Explaining Epistemically Suspect Beliefs

The aim of the study was to investigate the role that cognitive abilities, rational thinking abilities, cognitive styles and self-control play in explaining the endorsement of epistemically suspect beliefs among university students. A total of 159 students participated in the study. We found that different aspects of rational thought (i.e. rational thinking abilities and cognitive styles) and self-control, but not intelligence, significantly predicted the endorsement of epistemically suspect beliefs. Based on these findings, it may be suggested that intelligence and rational thinking, although related, represent two fundamentally different constructs. Thus, deviations from rational thinking could be well described by the term “dysrationalia”, meaning the inability to think rationally despite having adequate intelligence. We discuss the implications of the results, as well as some drawbacks of the study.

"Dysrationalia" Among University Students: The Role of Cognitive Abilities, Different Aspects of Rational Thought and Self-Control in Explaining Epistemically Suspect Beliefs

The aim of the study was to investigate the role that cognitive abilities, rational thinking abilities, cognitive styles and self-control play in explaining the endorsement of epistemically suspect beliefs among university students. A total of 159 students participated in the study. We found that different aspects of rational thought (i.e. rational thinking abilities and cognitive styles) and self-control, but not intelligence, significantly predicted the endorsement of epistemically suspect beliefs. Based on these findings, it may be suggested that intelligence and rational thinking, although related, represent two fundamentally different constructs. Thus, deviations from rational thinking could be well described by the term "dysrationalia", meaning the inability to think rationally despite having adequate intelligence. We discuss the implications of the results, as well as some drawbacks of the study.

Relating Decision-Making Styles to Social Orientation and Time Approach

Research on decision-making styles has shown that stylistic differences matter for real-life outcomes, but less research has explored how styles relate to other differences between individuals. Heeding a call for a more systematic and theoretically sound understanding of decision-making styles, we investigated the relation between decision-making styles and specific aspects of social orientation and approach to time in two samples (students, n = 118, and police investigators, n = 90). The results of regression analyses showed that decision-making styles are related to specific differences in social orientation and time approach. Furthermore, results of structural equation model analyses suggested possible adjustments to the proposed two-factor model for decision-making styles (Dewberry, Juanchich, & Narendran, 2013a).

Initial Expectations of Team Performance: Specious Speculation or Framing the Future?

This study demonstrates that the initial performance expectations of teams, formed even before members are very familiar with each other or the team’s task, are a key determinant of the team’s ultimate success. Specifically, we argue that such early formed beliefs determine the extent to which teams frame their task as a gain or loss context, which affects their orientation toward risk-taking. Our results suggest a self-fulfilling prophecy effect: Initial team performance expectations lead to the fulfillment of such expectations via risk-taking behavior. We also show that teams are less susceptible to this “risk-taking trap” to the extent that members have low avoidant or high dependent decision-making styles. We tested and found support for our predictions in a study of 540 individuals comprising 108 five-member teams working in a controlled environment. Our study contributes to theory on emergent states and decision biases in teams, and we offer a number of practical implications.

Adapting Scott and Bruce's General Decision-Making Style Inventory to Patient Decision Making in Provider Choice

OBJECTIVE

Research testing the concept of decision-making styles in specific contexts such as health care-related choices is missing. Therefore, we examine the contextuality of Scott and Bruce's (1995) General Decision-Making Style Inventory with respect to patient choice situations.

METHODS

Scott and Bruce's scale was adapted for use as a patient decision-making style inventory. In total, 388 German patients who underwent elective joint surgery responded to a questionnaire about their provider choice. Confirmatory factor analyses within 2 independent samples assessed factorial structure, reliability, and validity of the scale.

RESULTS

The final 4-dimensional, 13-item patient decision-making style inventory showed satisfactory psychometric properties. Data analyses supported reliability and construct validity. Besides the intuitive, dependent, and avoidant style, a new subdimension, called "comparative" decision-making style, emerged that originated from the rational dimension of the general model.

CONCLUSIONS

This research provides evidence for the contextuality of decision-making style to specific choice situations. Using a limited set of indicators, this report proposes the patient decision-making style inventory as valid and feasible tool to assess patients' decision propensities.

Neural correlates of dueling affective reactions to win-win choices

Win-win choices cause anxiety, often more so than decisions lacking the opportunity for a highly desired outcome. These anxious feelings can paradoxically co-occur with positive feelings, raising important implications for individual decision styles and general well-being. Across three studies, people chose between products that varied in personal value. Participants reported feeling most positive and most anxious when choosing between similarly high-valued products. Behavioral and neural results suggested that this paradoxical experience resulted from parallel evaluations of the expected outcome (inducing positive affect) versus the cost of choosing a response (inducing anxiety). Positive feelings were reduced when there was no high-value option, and anxiety was reduced when only one option was highly valued. Dissociable regions within the striatum and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) tracked these dueling affective reactions during choice. Ventral regions, associated with stimulus valuation, tracked positive feelings and the value of the best item. Dorsal regions, associated with response valuation, tracked anxiety. In addition to tracking anxiety, the dorsal mPFC was associated with conflict during the current choice, and activity levels across individual items predicted whether that choice would later be reversed during an unexpected reevaluation phase. By revealing how win-win decisions elicit responses in dissociable brain systems, these results help resolve the paradox of win-win choices. They also provide insight into behaviors that are associated with these two forms of affect, such as why we are pulled toward good options but may still decide to delay or avoid choosing among them.