The use and support of intuition among university outdoor program professional staff: A preliminary investigation

Abstract

A number of authors have pointed to the role that intuition may play in organizational and managerial decision making (Gigerenzer, 2007; Gladwell, 2005). There has been a great amount of academic research directed toward understanding intuition with much centered on what intuition is (Hodgkinson, Langan-Fox and Sadler-Smith, 2008), the aspects that encourage individuals to trust and use it (Hodgkinson, Langan-Fox and Sadler-Smith, 2008), and the factors that account for when intuition should be used, especially when it is as or potentially more effective than analytical decision making (e.g. Dane and Pratt, 2007). With regard to the process of intuition, Dane and Pratt (2009) found that most conceptualizations include the following features: (1) non-conscious information processing, (2) holistic associations, (3) affect, and (4) speed. The non-conscious system allows individuals to learn from experience and develop feelings of knowing in the absence of conscious attention (Dane and Pratt, 2009; Hogarth, 2001). As non-consciously held patterns are linked to environmental stimuli through a holistic associative process, intuitive judgments arise rapidly accompanied by affect - commonly reflected in the expressions “gut feelings” and “gut instincts” (Dane and Pratt, 2009).