Abstract
Making lots of decisions can result in what is known as decision fatigue. As past research has indicated, decision fatigue happens after contemplating choices while making decisions; this ultimately inhibits our ability to self-regulate and follow through on undesirable tasks. However, there is limited research that shows how the number of decisions people make impacts self-control. In this study, participants either rated how appealing food images looked or made a choice between two food images; the number of ratings/choices was either 10 or 30. Participants then engaged in the self-regulatory task of solving a difficult riddle. We hypothesized that participants in the rating condition and those making fewer ratings/choices would persist longer on the difficult riddle than those in the choosing condition or making more decisions. We also hypothesized that personality traits would correlate with aspects of decision making: participants low in neuroticism and agreeableness, but high in extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness will spend more time attempting the difficult riddle task. We found trends of longer persistence on the riddle when participants were asked to make more decisions and less persistence when they were high in agreeableness. The results of this study provide insight on connections between different dimensions of personality and its impact on the occurrence of decision fatigue among different individuals. Such implications could help decipher possible contributors to poor decision making, as well as, give insight on strengthening our ability to make decisions.
Faculty Sponsors
Leanne Boucher, Ph.D., W. Matthew Collins, Ph.D.
Project Type
Event
Location
Alvin Sherman Library
Start Date
4-10-2015 1:00 PM
End Date
4-10-2015 5:30 PM
Exhausted from Decision Fatigue: Do Personality Differences Influence Decision Making?
Alvin Sherman Library
Making lots of decisions can result in what is known as decision fatigue. As past research has indicated, decision fatigue happens after contemplating choices while making decisions; this ultimately inhibits our ability to self-regulate and follow through on undesirable tasks. However, there is limited research that shows how the number of decisions people make impacts self-control. In this study, participants either rated how appealing food images looked or made a choice between two food images; the number of ratings/choices was either 10 or 30. Participants then engaged in the self-regulatory task of solving a difficult riddle. We hypothesized that participants in the rating condition and those making fewer ratings/choices would persist longer on the difficult riddle than those in the choosing condition or making more decisions. We also hypothesized that personality traits would correlate with aspects of decision making: participants low in neuroticism and agreeableness, but high in extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness will spend more time attempting the difficult riddle task. We found trends of longer persistence on the riddle when participants were asked to make more decisions and less persistence when they were high in agreeableness. The results of this study provide insight on connections between different dimensions of personality and its impact on the occurrence of decision fatigue among different individuals. Such implications could help decipher possible contributors to poor decision making, as well as, give insight on strengthening our ability to make decisions.
