Parents’ decision-making strategies when selecting child care: Effects of parental awareness, experience, and education

Abstract

The effects of level of parental awareness, parenting experience, and formal education on parents’ decision making about child care were examined in two experiments using “process-tracing” methodology. In Experiment 1, 60 mothers made decisions about child care for their child(ren). Mothers at higher levels of parental awareness used less information and demonstrated more variability in their information search patterns. Mothers at lower levels of parental awareness used more information and demonstrated less variable search patterns. These strategies imply the use of compensatory decision models and are less cognitively efficient. A similar result was obtained for education whereas parenting experience was not significant in influencing the decision strategies. Experiment 2 used pressure of time as a “stress” condition and the results replicated and extended the first experiment’s findings.