What makes a good decision-maker? Self and social evaluations of decision-making competence versus performance measures in a simulated decision

Abstract

The concept of decision-making competence was investigated from different perspectives, using several methods of measurement. The objective was to describe the relationships among four sets of variables: self and social appraisals of decision-making competence, selected objective measures of decision-making performance, and involvement in real-life experiences indicating individual differences in decision-making experience. Subjects were 50 adult Kibbutz members who were asked to evaluate themselves and to complete a sociometric questionnaire on other members, concerning decision-making competence. They were also asked to make a simulated decision about a new line of work, from which data were obtained on their creativity in generating options and considerations, congruence between explicit and implicit choice values, and between their preferences and utilities of the options. Findings indicated that the different aspects of decision-making competence were considerably independent, that age was positively related to social evaluations of decision-making competence and negatively to self appraisals, and that gender may interact with relationships among different parameters of decision-making competence.