Personal Decision Making

Although all decisions—from which car to buy to whether to smoke—are influenced by others, ultimately
the individual is responsible for his or her own decisions. Individuals begin to learn decision making at an
early age. During the socialization process, children are given the opportunity to make choices and to learn
from decision situations. By the time they become adults, most people assume themselves to be competent
decision makers. In reality, however, this assumption may fall short if there is a difference between the
actual and perceived quality of decisions. The actual quality of decisions refers to what is truly happening.
The perceived quality of decisions refers to what an individual thinks is happening in the decision process.
Potentially, then, people can deceive themselves into thinking that a poor decision is a good one or at least
an acceptable one. Experience and improved decision-making skills can narrow the gap between the
perceived and the actual.

Decision-making style is affected not only by an individual’s socialization, knowledge, ability, and
motivation, but also by his or her personality traits such as compulsiveness, open-mindedness,
innovativeness, self-confidence, and courage.

Another factor that can affect decision-making style is self-esteem. Low self-esteem often results in
indecisiveness. In other words, someone who is unsure of his or her ability to make sound decisions is
likely to be indecisive. Indecisiveness can be a major problem for individuals, families, and organizations.
Possible causes of indecisiveness are:

• Stress
• Ill health, depression
• Fear of the unknown
• Procrastination
• Fear of making a wrong decision or mistake
• Fear of acting on one’s own
• Lack of “good judgment”
• Feeling overwhelmed
• Fear of taking responsibility or standing alone on an issue
• Overdependency on other people’s opinions

Indecisiveness and the Peter Principle

Some individuals always seem to be indecisive; others are indecisive only in certain situations. Lawrence J.
Peter and Raymond Hall (1969) proposed an explanation for indecisive behavior.
They suggested that people may reach a point in their work at which they can no longer successfully
function.

Specifically, Peter and Hall said that people tend to be promoted until they reach a level beyond their
competence—a point at which they can no longer make and implement effective decisions. They called this
phenomenon the Peter Principle. Even though the Peter Principle is pervasive, it can be avoided by fitting
the right person to the right job and by making performance expectations clear from the outset. Examples
of this principle can be found in a variety of organizations and settings, including the home and the
community.
Avoiding Decisions

Being indecisive is linked to another decision-making phenomenon—avoidance. Passing the

decision-making buck is one way individuals avoid decisions.

Avoidance typically results in statements such as the following:

• “I thought you were going to settle this.”
• “That’s not my job.”
• “You’re the boss. Don’t ask me what I think, just tell me what to do.”
• “Why is it up to me?”

Failure to assign clear responsibility for tasks in the home or at the office may lead to some of these
remarks. When chores are not assigned and the dishes are not done or the garbage is not taken out, family
members may all say, “That’s not my job.” Parents and children need to have a clear understanding of who
will do what in the home. At the same time, tasks, chores, and duties are not static. Nonperformance may
also result because goals and priorities have changed; there are no longer commonly held beliefs about
how to act. There is a fundamental difference between compliance and commitment. Complying means
going along with some idea or action. Commitment signifies belief in an idea or action. High-commitment
workplaces and households are more productive and are more comfortable places to be.

Decidophobia

Not making decisions is also a decision. Decidophobia is the fear of making decisions, specifically the fear
of failure. Sometimes the problem stems from being overwhelmed with choices.

A person with decidophobia is frozen and cannot choose an alternative or form a plan of action.
Decidophobics see decisions as problems, not as opportunities.

Here are a few ways decidophobics can break out of the non-decisive mode:

 Use the decision-making models and the DECIDE acronym, which divide decisions
into parts. Often it is easier to break a big decision into smaller parts and make those
decisions first.
 Moderate expectations.
 Start each day with the single most important task and complete it. If you are a list maker,
do not have more than five items on the list; that way you are more likely to get everything
done and feel a greater sense of accomplishment and control.
 Step back from the decision; sleep on it overnight; give it some time. You might even
think about a vacation or a change of scene as a way to get perspective.
 Talk it over with caring friends or family members: Perhaps there is a fresh approach,
an avenue you have not considered, or perhaps talking about it will at least offer the
chance to clarify what you really want.

Decidophobia is a learned behavior; it is a type of helplessness (dependency on others); and it is a form of

perfectionism. So that they don’t establish this pattern, young children should be given the opportunity to
experience decision making (e.g., choosing the red shirt or the blue one, the apple or the orange) in order
to develop decision-making skills. Setting up a variety of activity areas or learning centers in preschools or
kindergartens is an excellent way to provide children with early decision-making experiences. During free
time, the children can choose the activity they want to engage in, whom they want to be with, and what they
want to accomplish—all useful life preparation skills.

Intuition

Intuition plays a role in decision making. One way to increase decision-making acumen is to trust feelings
and instincts (Kaye, 1996). A multistep approach, like the one mentioned earlier in the chapter, is not
always necessary to select a course of action.

Sometimes decisions are influenced by intuition, or the sense of knowing what to do without going through
rational processes. For example, Brad accompanies Kirsten, his wife, to two out-of-state interviews. Brad
likes one state but cannot stand the other, although he cannot give specific reasons for his feelings.
Fortunately, Kirsten gets offers from both employers, and she and Brad choose the state they both feel
good about.