General Decision-Making Style Inventory Research Articles

Individual decision styles as predictors for bias susceptibility and bias blind spots in managerial decisions

Purpose This paper aims to managerial decision styles, following the General Decision-Making Style Inventory, as potential predictors of individual bias awareness and bias blind spots, with a focus on the rational decision style. Design/methodology/approach The research is based on a survey of 50°C-1 level managers within Forbes 2000 companies. It explores their decision styles and their assessments of their own and others’ decision behavior. Findings The results show that the awareness of one’s own susceptibility to biases and bias blind spots is highly dependent on an individual’s (self-declared) decision style and type of cognitive bias; decision-makers with a strong tendency toward a rational or spontaneous decision style see themselves as less vulnerable to cognitive biases but also show a much stronger bias blind spot than those with a tendency toward other decision styles. Meanwhile, decision-makers with a strong tendency toward an intuitive decision style tend to recognize their own vulnerability to cognitive biases and even show a negative blind spot, thus seeing themselves as more affected by cognitive biases than others. Originality/value To date, decision styles have not been used as a lens through which to view susceptibility to cognitive biases and bias blind spots in managerial decision-making. As demonstrated in this article, decision styles can serve as predictors of individual awareness and susceptibility to cognitive biases and bias blind spots for managers.

The mediating role of decision-making styles in the relationship between morningness-eveningness preference and gambling involvement

It has been reported that evening-types are related to several risk-taking behaviour, including gambling. Both morningness-eveningness preference and gambling disorders have been associated with specific decision-making styles. The present study aimed to assess the relationship among morningness-eveningness preference, gambling disorder, and decision-making styles. Three-hundred and seventy-four volunteers (31.93 ± 12.75 years; 43.30 % males) completed the reduced version of the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire, the General Decision-Making Style inventory, and the South Oaks Gambling Screen. The results showed that evening-types reported higher scores on the gambling severity especially for men, as well as on the Spontaneous decision-making style, whereas morning-types scored lower on the gambling severity and higher on the Rational decision-making style. The correlation analysis showed the associations between morningness-eveningness preference and gambling severity, Rational and Spontaneous styles, as well as the associations between gambling severity and Rational, Avoidant and Spontaneous styles. Mediation analysis demonstrated that morning-types were more rational, and, in turn, the Rational scale was negatively associated with SOGS. The analysis also showed that evening-types were more avoidant in their decision-making styles, and, in turn, this tendency to avoid decision-making significantly predicted gambling severity. The results are discussed with reference to circadian phase (and its changes) and amplitude.

Общие стили принятия решений: апробация русскоязычной модификации опросника GDMS

Background. Individual techniques, or decision-making styles, are included in the regulation of hierarchies of processes that mediate a person’s exit from situations of uncertainty. Diagnostics of these styles helps both to solve practical problems and to clarify theoretical issues — in particular, the issue of the generalization of styles and their connections with the intellectual and personal spheres. Objective. The aim is to test and adjust the General Decision-Making Style Inventory questionnaire to a Russian sample. Study Participants. 456 people aged 18 to 50 years (M = 24.80; SD = 7.61); of these, 74 were men (M = 22.96; SD = 4.88) and 358 were women (M = 25.25; SD = 8.08), 24 subjects did not indicate gender. 80% were university students, 20% were working employees. Methods. The study included 3 stages: translation, assessment of structural validity and reliability on a Russian sample, assessment of convergent validity. 4 questionnaires were used: the General Decision-Making Style, Rational-Experiential Inventory, Personal Factors of Decision Making (PFDM), Impulsivity-7. Results. A structural model of connections between the scales (factors) of the General Decision-Making Style Questionnaire has been constructed. The model demonstrated good fit to the data and Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficients were acceptable (0.75 to 0.85). The convergent validity of the questionnaire scales was confirmed. Analysis of differences by gender revealed significantly higher scores for Intuitive and Dependent styles in women. Conclusions. The General Decision-Making Styles Questionnaire has a 5-factor structure and acceptable psychometric properties. Convergent validity has been demonstrated primarily for the Rational and Intuitive styles when identifying their connections with other similar constructs. Both styles are not related to each other, but are related in the opposite way to the Spontaneous (Impulsive) style.

Communication and Decision-making in Public and Private Organisations in Bulgaria

Abstract: Decision-making is a current topic in the management of internal communications in public and private organizations. In the classical concept, decisions are taken independently by the manager, but nowadays it is common for other employees to participate in this process as well. This article represents the results from an empirical study conducted in Bulgarian public and private organizations operating on the territory of the city of Sofia. More than 80 people took park in the survey and a questionnaire for determining the decision-making style GDMSI (General Decision Making Style Inventory) was used. The results show that management and executive personnel have a highly pronounced dependent decision-making style. Managers transfer the responsibility for the decision to other employees in the organizations - the experts. This implies new approaches to communications - to target both experts and managers in an attempt to influence the decision-making process. The research was conducted in the conditions of the Bulgarian cultural environment. Keywords: communications, decision-maker, decision making style, occupation, public organizations, private organizations.

Decision-making style structure of Slovenian sports managers

Purpose: Decisions that we make are always burdened with consequences, which are the inevitable result of our decision-making. The decision-making style (DMS) is the way in which managers acquire, process and use information in decision-making processes. The goals of the present research are to define the factor structure of DMS for a sample of Slovenian sports managers and to determine the characteristics of their DMS structure. Methods: 80 managers of Slovenian sports organizations filled in an anonymous internet survey. The DMS was measured with the use of the General Decision-Making Style Inventory (GDMS), which was translated into the Slovenian language. The GDMS questionnaire measures five different decision-making styles: rational, intuitive, dependent, avoidant and spontaneous. The factor analysis (FA) method was used to test the assumption about the structure of the DMS. The internal consistency was measured using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to study the relationship between the DMS. Results: After three successive implementations of FA, we developed an optimized DMS model with 20 items confirming that when making decisions, sports managers use a combination of all five DMS. Slovenian sports managers mostly use the rational and dependent DMS, indicating that they are mostly rational decision-makers. We also recognized the correlation between the rational and the dependent style, but since the structure of the DMS in our sample is dominated by the rational DMS, we could conclude that this is a dependent-rational DMS, where mangers seek advice, opinions and knowledge from colleagues when making decisions to increasing their rationality. Conclusions: We can conclude that the recognized average structure of the DMS is functional and healthy; furthermore, Slovenian sports managers are on average rational decision-makers who, due to the specific organizational characteristics of sports organizations, look for confirmation and opinions on future decisions in the broader environment of the organizations' stakeholders.

Relation between decision-making styles among head nurses and their personality traits

Background Decision-making styles differ from one head nurse to another one based on several factors and a variety of personality traits that collaboratively affect the proficiency of the decision. Aim This study aimed to assess the relation between decision-making styles among head nurses and their personality traits. Design A descriptive correlational research design was used in carrying out the current study. Setting This study was conducted at nine hospitals affiliated to the Ministry of Health at Beni-Suef governorate and included six central hospitals and three specialty hospitals. Patients A purposive sample of 137 head nurses was included as a study sample. Data-collection tools Three tools were used to carry out this study, namely (a) factors affecting decision-making questionnaire, (b) general decision-making style inventory, and (c) personality-trait questionnaire. Results The mean age of the study sample was 35.2±6.8. Majority (90.5%) of the head nurses had a low level of rational style, the highest mean was regarding psychoticism neuroticism trait (21.41±0.86). There was a statistically significant correlation between intuitive decision-making style of head nurses and their neuroticism traits. There was a statistically significant correlation between dependent decision-making style of head nurses and their psychoticism and lie traits. Conclusion There was a highly statistically significant correlation between spontaneous decision-making style of head nurses and their extraversion and neuroticism traits. Also, there was a highly statistically significant correlation between intuitive decision-making style of head nurses and their psychoticism trait. Recommendations Periodic training and evaluation of head nurses on decision-making skills and giving more attention for personality traits of head nurses and their effect on decision-making.

Divergent Thinking: The Role of Decision-Making Styles

ABSTRACT Divergent thinking involves the ability to find many different and new responses or solutions to open-ended problems. The ability to think divergently has been associated with different cognitive processes, including intuitive and rational thinking styles. However, research has not specifically addressed the extent to which divergent thinking is associated to decision-making styles, which involve habits to react in a certain way in specific decisional contexts. The present study was devoted to explore the relationships between verbal and visual divergent thinking, assessed using the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking, and decision-making styles (e.g., rational, intuitive, dependent, avoidant, and spontaneous), assessed using the General Decision-Making Style inventory. The scores of both verbal and visual divergent thinking (e.g., fluency, flexibility, originality; elaboration only for visual divergent thinking) were converted in z-scores and summed separately in order to get verbal and visual composite creative indices. Results revealed that only and rational decision-making style predicted both creative indices. This finding confirms the key role of rationality during the creative process. Possible explanations for the lack of significance of intuitive decision-making style are presented. Future research directions are also discussed.

Raters’ Decision Making Variations in Scoring Writing Samples

This study examined raters’ decision making variations in a writing assessment task focusing on individual differences in decision-making style (DMS). The participants’ of the study were six TEFL instructors. A rating scale obtained from Turner and Upshur, 2002 and a General Decision Making Style Inventory questionnaire, GDMSI, obtained from Scott and Bruce (1995) were administered to raters. The results showed the raters’ behaviors were not equally the same in the same rating situations. These discrepancies suggested individual socio-cognitive differences in accounting for some rater variability in scoring. In addition, characteristics of the texts (not just individual cognitive characteristics) favored certain decision-making behaviors. Accordingly, a re-visioning of the one-size-fits-all approach that is currently the norm in the training of raters for scoring writing assessments is needed. Further, a more individualized approach to rater training is needed. If the individual decision-making style to a great extent is dependent on basic cognitive abilities that are stable and not easily changed, then the decision support systems need to be flexible in order to match the needs of the individual decision makers.

Factors Affecting Decision Making among Nurse Managers and Its Relation to Decision Making Styles

Background: Decision making is the heart of all administrative and managerial functions. Managers make many decisions as a part of their daily work by different styles and those decisions and styles are affected by many factors. Aim: This study aimed to assess the factors affecting decision-making among nurse managers and its relation to decision-making styles. Material and methods: A descriptive correlation research design was utilized with a sample of 85 nurse managers who were working in Port Said hospitals which affiliated to Ministry of Health. Data was collected from November 2014 to January 2015.Tools of data collection: A personal and job characteristics of the participants, factors affecting decision making questionnaire and general decision-making style inventory (GDMS) were used. Results: The study findings revealed that less than half (42.4%) of nurse managers were influenced by the factors affecting decision making. The highest mean score was for process factors (79.4±13.0), meanwhile the lowest mean score was for individual factors (72.9±13.7). Additionally, the highest mean score was for avoidant style (18.2±3.7), while the lowest mean scores was for rational style (10.5±2.3). Conclusion: There was a statistically significant correlation between factors affecting decision making and all general decision-making styles except the intuitive style. So the findings pointed to create nurse managers abilities related to decision making through educational programs. Also, further researches are suggested.

DECISION MAKING STYLES AND WORK EMPOWERMENT AMONG HEAD NURSES

Back ground: The difficulty of today’s organizational designs beside the rapid rate of information run can cause healthcare leaders to experience work overload resulting in ineffective leader decision making. Best performance of head nurses cannot be given only when they are exceptionally strong in practical activities of their assigned work, they need power and authority in decision making in the area of their activities for reaching their peak presentation .So the study aimed to detect relation between decision making styles and work empowerment for head nurses at Mansoura Emergency Hospital .Subjects and methods: The total study sample composed of 70 head nurses. Information was collected by using General Decision Making style inventory (GDMS) and Conditions for Work Effectiveness Questionnaire (CWEQ).Results: presenting that there was statistically significant correlation between intuitive decision making style and perception of head nurses towards support and information (P<0.05). There was diversity of using five decision making styles among head nurses sample based on different situations. The highest degree of opinion score related to rational decision making style and perception towards resource had the highest score as perceived by head nurses.Conclusions:. The study concluded that decision making styles were greatly influenced by perception of the studied head nurses towards work empowerment.

Circadian preference and decision-making styles

The present study aimed to explore for the first time the relationship between circadian preference and different decision-making styles. In total, 501 young adults (330 females), with a mean age of 21.07 ± 1.99 years, took part in the study. The participants completed the reduced version of the morningness–eveningness questionnaire (rMEQ) and the general decision-making style inventory (GDMS). The rMEQ enabled to assess the circadian preference, with lower rMEQ scores pointing toward eveningness preference. The GDMS measured five decision-making styles: rational, intuitive, dependent, avoidant and spontaneous. Higher scores on each GDMS decision-making style reflect a higher prevalence of the corresponding style. A set of multiple regression analyses was performed with rMEQ score, gender and age as predictors together with each GDMS decision-making style as dependent variable. rMEQ score proved to be the only significant (negative) predictor of avoidant and spontaneous decision-making styles, i.e. lower rMEQ score (tendency toward eveningness) significantly predicted higher score at these decision-making styles. The present results suggest that eveningness preference is significantly related to avoidant and spontaneous decision-making styles in young adults. Such results will be discussed with reference to the effects of decision-making styles on decision-making in different types of workers and mental health.

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

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. 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. 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. 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.

General decision making style: evidence from India

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine applicability of the general decision-making style (GDMS) inventory in India, using a sample of managers. In addition the authors identify various decision-making styles (DMS) of Indian managers and explore their association with respondents’ gender, age, education, experience level, annual income, sector, industry and organizational output.Design/methodology/approach– The sample consisted responses of 500 Indian managers from public (13 percent) and private (87 percent) sector organizations. The data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis, regression analysis, independent samplet-tests and ANOVA.Findings– All decision-making sub scales (rational, intuitive, dependent, avoidant and spontaneous) had satisfactory reliabilities and internal consistencies. Results obtained factor structure that confirmed the original five-factor structure of GDMS. There were also mutual correlations among the styles. Moreover, there were significant differences in the DMS across respondents’ profile variables.Research limitations/implications– This research is based upon survey method and voluntary participation. Hence one can question generalization of findings to larger samples.Practical implications– Results provide insights into DMS of the Indian managers. Organizations may use GDMS as a selection tool, respondents may hone their DMS.Originality/value– A majority of researchers use survey without evaluating validity of the instruments in the selected context and sample. This research contributed to the literature and practice by testing validation of the GDMS inventory in India.

Exploratory structural equation modeling of the general decision-making style inventory

El General Decision-Making Style Inventory ha sido validado con muestras de varios países, sin reportes sobre su validez en países latinoamericanos. En este estudio evaluamos la estructura subyacente al GDMSI en una muestra de habitantes de Argentina y comparamos un modelo clásico de análisis factorial confirmatorio (CFA) con un modelo más flexible que combina modelos exploratorios y confirmatorios, el modelo de ecuaciones estructurales exploratorio (ESEM). En general, los resultados muestran la validez de constructo del GDMSI y confirman la potencialidad y superioridad de los procedimientos ESEM para evaluar las relaciones entre los ítems y las dimensiones subyacentes, comparado con modelos más restrictivos.

Vocational Identity Status among Turkish Youth: Relationships between Perfectionisms and Decision Making Style

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relations between vocational identity status, perfectionism and decision making style in a sample of 317 Turkish university students and university graduates. The Vocational Identity Status Assessment (VISA; Porfeli et al., 2011), the General Decision Making Style Inventory (GDMS; Scott and Bruce, 1995), the Almost Perfect Scale- Revised (APS-R; Slaney, Rice, Mobley, Trippi, & Ashby, 2001) were used for data collection. As hypothesized, the regression analyses revealed that, high standards and order were the positive predictors of career exploration and commitment while discrepancy was the negative predictor of commitment. High standards and order were found to be the negative predictor of reconsideration while discrepancy was the positive predictor of reconsideration. The regression analyses revealed that dependent and rational decision making styles were the positive predictors of career exploration and rational and intuitive styles were the positive predictors of commitment. The avoidant style was the positive predictor of reconsideration while intuitive style was the negative predictor of reconsideration.

Individual Differences in Rater Decision-Making Style: An Exploratory Mixed-Methods Study

Researchers of high-stakes, subjectively scored writing assessments have done much work to better understand the process that raters go through in applying a rating scale to a language performance to arrive at a score. However, there is still unexplained, systematic variability in rater scoring that resists rater training (see Hoyt & Kerns, 1999; McNamara, 1996; Weigle, 2002; Weir, 2005). The consideration of individual differences in rater cognition may explain some of this rater variability. This mixed-method exploratory case study (Yin, 2009) examined rater decision making in a high-stakes writing assessment for preservice teachers in Quebec, Canada, focussing on individual differences in decision-making style, or “stylistic differences in cognitive style that could affect decision-making” (Thunholm, 2004, p. 932). The General Decision Making Style Inventory questionnaire (Scott & Bruce, 1995) was administered to six raters of a high-stakes writing exam in Quebec, and information on the following rater behaviours was also collected for their potential for providing additional information on individual decision-making style (DMS): (a) the frequency at which a rater decides to defer his or her score, (b) the underuse of failing score levels, and (c) the comments provided by raters during the exam rating about their decisions (collected through “write-aloud” protocols; Gigerenzer & Hoffrage, 1995). The relative merits of each of these sources of data are discussed in terms of their potential for tapping into the construct of rater DMS. Although score effects of DMS have yet to be established, it is concluded that despite the exploratory nature of this study, there is potential for the consideration of individual sociocognitive differences in accounting for some rater variability in scoring.

Decision Styles and Rationality

This study investigates the relationship between the five decision-making styles evaluated by the General Decision-Making Style Inventory, indecisiveness, and rationality in decision making. Using a sample of 102 middle-level managers, the results show that the rational style positively predicts rationality in decision making and negatively predicts indecisiveness, whereas the avoidant style positively predicts indecisiveness.

Career decision-making profiles vs. styles: Convergent and incremental validity

The present research investigated the convergent and incremental validity of the multidimensional model and questionnaire – the Career Decision-Making Profiles (CDMP, Gati, Landman, Davidovitch, Peretz-Asulin, & Gadassi, 2010) – by comparing it to two prevalent decision-making style models. Study 1 compared the CDMP to the Vocational Decision Style Indicator (VDSI; Walsh, 1986) using a sample of 423 young adults. Study 2 compared the CDMP to the General Decision-Making Style inventory (GDMS; Scott & Bruce, 1995; based on Harren, 1979) using a sample of 427 individuals. The results of Studies 1 and 2 supported the convergent validity of the CDMP. Moreover, the results supported the advantage of the CDMP over the VDSI in predicting individuals' stages in the career decision-making process.

Decision-making difficulties experienced by adults with autism spectrum conditions

Autobiographical and clinical accounts, as well as a limited neuropsychological research literature, suggest that, in some situations, men and women with autism spectrum conditions (ASCs) may have difficulty making decisions. Little is known, however, about how people with ASCs experience decision-making or how they might best be supported to make decisions for themselves. In this study, we compared the decision-making experiences of adults with and without ASCs (n=38 and n=40, respectively) using a novel questionnaire and the General Decision Making Style inventory (GDMS, Scott & Bruce, 1995). The participants with ASCs reported experiencing several problems in decision-making more frequently than the comparison group, and were more likely to report avoidance of decision-making, as measured using the GDMS. The findings highlight areas of potential future research and inform suggestions for supporting adults with ASCs during decision-making.

Military leaders and followers – do they have different decision styles?

There are five different, although not mutually exclusive, styles exhibited by military officers when making decisions: rational, intuitive, dependent, avoidant, and spontaneous (Scott & Bruce, 1995). The purpose was to investigate if elected leaders of military planning teams had a different configuration of decision-making styles than their team members. Participants were 98 army captains organized in 16 brigade-level planning teams. The results indicate that team leaders tended to be more spontaneous and less rational, dependent and avoidant in their style configuration than their team members. One possible explanation is that the style configuration exhibited by many of the elected leaders comes through to others as forcefulness and decisiveness and that such a profile is in line with a general leadership culture. The results also provide support for the General Decision-Making Style inventory as a measurement of decision styles, because they suggest that the self-reports coincide with displayed, observable behavior.