Beyond rationality: images as guide-lines to choice

In this paper I will discuss a representation of the decision-making process that is based on images production, and exploitation, in order to propose theoretical refinement of the link between decisional behaviour and mental images in economic contexts. To do so, I will start by shortly presenting Beach and Mitchell' s model (1987). I will then extend it to economics, by comparing its implications with those deriving from two more traditional approaches, both the neoclassical one and those recently from Simon' s bounded rationality theory: The most significant consequences of an image-based model appear to be: i) wider cognitive foundations for the decision process; ii) the need to extend the concept of rationality by enlarging its relationship with that of imagination; iii) a new and fuller "image" of the economic agent.

THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN UNCERTAINTY, REPRODUCTIVE DISTRESS, AND AVOIDANCE IN ASSIGNED FEMALE AT BIRTH ADOLESCENT AND YOUNG ADULT (AYA-F) CANCER SURVIVORS

Family building and fertility is a complex component of survivorship for assigned female at birth Adolescent and Young Adult’s (AYA-F’s), often accompanied by a mix of cognitive uncertainty, emotional uncertainty, reproductive distress, and avoidance. These psychological components present in survivorship for AYA-F’s can impact coping, identity development, and individualized care plans throughout survivorship. This novel examination of data from a cross sectional study shed light on the associations between reproductive distress, uncertainty, and avoidance and how they are experienced differently by various subgroups within the sample. Results demonstrate that reproductive distress fully mediated the association between emotional uncertainty and avoidance, while no association was demonstrated between cognitive uncertainty either directly or indirectly through reproductive distress. When controlling for age, age at diagnosis, education level, household income, and decisional self-efficacy, the mediation between emotional uncertainty and avoidance through reproductive distress was no longer observed (although emotional uncertainty and reproductive distress were still associated) and no other significant associations were found amongst the main psychological variables of interest. However, there were significant findings between age at diagnosis, household income and self-efficacy with reproductive distress as well as between self-efficacy and avoidance. These results implicating decisional self-efficacy with avoidance adds to existing literature on avoidant behavior predictors for AYA-F’s specifically. By better understanding these associations, survivorship experiences and individualized fertility related support needs are now better understood and the standard of care for AYA-F’s in survivorship can be better tailored to the nuanced psychosocial needs identified within this study

Emotional reactions to the outcomes of decisions: The role of counterfactual thought in the experience of regret and disappointment

decision making;consumer behavior

Fear of Failure, Mindfulness, and Procrastination

Procrastination is a complex behavior with often negative consequences. Prior studies have found a positive correlation between procrastination and various negative emotional states, such as fear of failure. Conversely, specific mindfulness techniques, have been negatively associated with procrastination in prior research. The current study set out to examine the correlations of fear of failure and procrastination as well as those of mindfulness and procrastination. A sample of university students (n=310) were assessed using three scales: the Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory (PFAI), the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS), and the Pure Procrastination Scale (PPS). Results indicated a significant positive correlation between total fear of failure and total procrastination; total fear of failure and decisional procrastination; total fear of failure and timeliness/lateness; fear of important others losing interest and total procrastination; fear of important others losing interest and timeliness/lateness; fear of having an uncertain future and timeliness/lateness; and fear of experiencing shame or embarrassment and total procrastination. Findings indicated a significant negative correlation between acting with awareness and total procrastination; acting with awareness and delay in implementation; and describing and decisional procrastination. These findings support the view that, overall, fear of failure and procrastination are positively correlated and mindfulness and procrastination are inversely correlated. They point to further research being needed relative to whether mindfulness can play an intermediary role between the experience of fear of failure and procrastinatory behavior

Under pressure: Response urgency modulates striatal and insula activity during decision-making under risk

When deciding whether to bet in situations that involve potential monetary loss or gain (mixed gambles), a subjective sense of pressure can influence the evaluation of the expected utility associated with each choice option. Here, we explored how gambling decisions, their psychophysiological and neural counterparts are modulated by an induced sense of urgency to respond. Urgency influenced decision times and evoked heart rate responses, interacting with the expected value of each gamble. Using functional MRI, we observed that this interaction was associated with changes in the activity of the striatum, a critical region for both reward and choice selection, and within the insula, a region implicated as the substrate of affective feelings arising from interoceptive signals which influence motivational behavior. Our findings bridge current psychophysiological and neurobiological models of value representation and action-programming, identifying the striatum and insular cortex as the key substrates of decision-making under risk and urgency

The Effect of Rational and Intuitive Decision-Making Strategies on the Quality of Interest Forecasts

The world of work has changed. To keep up, vocational psychologists have adopted a greater emphasis on career adaptability, which relies on possessing transferable skills that will remain useful regardless of job context. Adaptable clients successfully translate idiosyncratic interests into transferable skills by taking advantage of certain occupational and educational opportunities. In order to do so, clients must choose among the myriad options available in the information age. What influences these choices and how they may be optimized are questions of primary interest to vocational psychologists. Decision-making theories and methodologies from the areas of cognitive and social psychology have been applied to career adaptability through the Anti-introspectivist approach and Trilateral Model of adaptive career decision-making, which postulate both intuitive and rational systems are necessary for adaptability. One-hundred forty participants chose among a variety of tasks after either an unconscious-intuitive, conscious-rational, or decision-as-usual information processing manipulation. Interest levels were assessed at three time points, before, during, and after engaging in the chosen task in order to determine which decision strategy produced more effective results. Level of occupational engagement and decision-making styles were also considered as potential moderators. Overall, previous levels of occupational engagement were found to be related to decisional quality, but this finding was pronounced only for the control group. Results suggest that decisions made after being immersed in decision-relevant stimuli and a period of unconscious thought were marginally more effective than decisions made as usual. These decisions were also more likely to be recalled accurately two weeks later. The results imply that career decision-makers and counselors may be better served by emphasizing experiential engagement with available options over a decisional strategy that relies simply on "thinking through" the decision

Psychologically Plausible Models in Agent-Based Simulations of Sustainable Behavior

Agent-based modelling (ABM) proves successful as a methodology for the social sciences. To continue bridging the micro-macro link in social simulations and applying ABM in real-world conditions, conventional and often simplified models of decision-making have to be utilized and extended into psychologically plausible models. We demonstrate the contribution of such models to enhance validation and forecasts in social simulations with two examples concerned with sustainable behavior. We start with the Consumat framework to demonstrate the contribution of an established psychological plausible decision-making model in various scenarios of sustainable behavior. Then we use the SiMA-C model to explain how different psychological factors generate social behavior and show how a detailed model of decision-making supports realistic empirical validation and experimentation. A scenario of social media prompting of environmental-friendly behavior exemplifies the details of how individual decision-making is influenced by the social context. Both examples, Consumat and SiMA-C, emphasize the importance of psychological realism in modelling behavioral dynamics for simulations of sustainable behavior and provide explanations on the psychological level that enable the development of social policies on the individual level

Strategic decision-making process characteristics, Confucian values and their effects on international entry mode decisions: a study of Chinese private firms

Based on the literature of SDM (strategic decision-making), cultural studies, and international entry mode, this study examines the effects of managerial cultural values and characteristics of SDMP (strategic decision-making process) on the Chinese private firms’ international entry mode decisions. Although the international entry mode decision is one of most frequently studied strategic decisions in the domain of international business, prior studies tend to neglect the effects of the decision-maker and decision-making process by assuming a rational decision model employed in the entry mode decision-making. However, SDM literature indicates that the decision-maker and decision process also play important roles in making a strategic decision. In order to address two aforementioned less explored elements, this study develops an integrative framework by introducing managerial cultural values - Confucian dynamism - and characteristics of SDMP into the extant rational framework to explain Chinese firms’ international entry mode decisions. This study adopts a mixed-method research approach by employing the survey method as the main design, supplemented by a follow-up case study method. Following a pilot paired questionnaire mailing, a large-scale mail survey was carried out in China, which generated 233 usable replies. CFA (confirmatory factor analysis) and binary logistical regression techniques were used to conduct construct validation and hypothesis testing respectively. In order to further understand the phenomenon in the real setting, a case study approach was conducted in four Chinese firms, which used different entry modes in their most important international entries. The findings of this study largely confirm the theoretical arguments of SDM literature and cultural studies that managerial value and decision process affect the outcome of strategic decision. Confucian dynamism was found to have both direct and moderating effects on the international entry mode decision. Characteristics of SDMP were also found to exert a moderating role in adjusting the effect of managerial value on the perceived situation. The evidence of case study also reflects that managers with varying degrees of Confucian dynamism tend to evaluate situational conditions differently, and different decision process dimensions are likely to limit or increase the chance of the subjective treatment of situational information. The major contribution of this study is that seemingly for the first time, Confucian dynamism, a traditional Chinese cultural trait, was found to have a directly negative influence and a moderating effect on international entry mode decision. In addition, characteristics of SDMP also were found to play an important role in adjusting the cultural preferential treatment of situational information. In short, besides the impacts from environmental and firm conditions, this study found that the decision-maker and the SDMP can also explain entry modes

Post-decisional Conflict in Selecting Cancer Treatments: Perception of Information Disclosure may Influence Decisional Conflict, Decisional Regret, and Self-Acceptance in Bereaved Parents of Children with Cancer

This study aimed to establish a connection, if any, between perceptions of information disclosure about medical treatment and decisional conflict in bereaved parents of children with cancer. Decisional regret was an important theme in this exploration because decisional conflict strongly aligns with the propensity to mentally redo past events, thereby forming counterfactual alternatives to reality. People generate counterfactuals to hypothesize a more favorable outcome subsequent to a negative event or the death of a child as applicable to this study. A secondary objective was to investigate the potential influence of counterfactual processing and regret on the construct of self-acceptance: a phenomenon researchers have rarely studied in the population of interest. Study participants included parents who lost a child to cancer in the United States after participating in medical treatment prescribed by a licensed oncologist. Cluster and convenience sampling were employed to recruit 92 participants. Quantitative methods were used in obtaining data samples through validated instruments for each independent and dependent variable. The responses collected indicate that a perceived lack of information disclosure about treatment risks and efficacy, yield a positive influence on decisional conflict after the death of a child. Similarly, decisional conflict positively correlates with decisional regret, while the latter negatively correlates with self acceptance in the bereavement process. The research implications call for additional studies that further isolate factors that contribute to decisional conflict. This study advocates for decision making tools and collaborative processes that ensure parents are well informed and involved in making medical decisions from diagnosis through palliative care, if a cure is not possible