Personal Experience in Choosing a Decision-making Style

Decision making is a process which chooses a preferred option or course of action from amongst other alternatives available, this is on the basis of given criteria or strategies. Using theoretical models and existing literature to back up my strategies, I will identify a past decision I have made and draw upon benefits along with the drawbacks of the decision making process I undertook. I shall evaluate this process and thus improve upon imperfections within my decision making process. The importance of correct and effective decision making process by humans is easy to understand, but there are complexities when it comes to achieving it. This is because are many elements which impact and influence an individual’s decision making style. 

I shall further analyse this literature by examining and evaluating a decision which I undertook 1 year ago. I recently purchased my first ever car at the age of 19. The decision making process for me purchasing my car was one which took a long period of time. I had my eye on a Volkswagen Golf but I was not considering other alternatives. Within one week of coming to the conclusion of what car I wanted, I immediately went and purchased the car and had the car 5 days later. From the outlook it is certainly apparent that the process which I undertook was one that was not very well thought out and was much unstructured. The decision making process undertaken can be deemed as very unstructured because I did not have a clear view of to tackle the decision. It was more so an impulsive purchase. The decision making style that I have used can be classified using rational and non-rational decision making approaches. A rational decision making is a tendency to make a normative decision. This means that the individual looks at all the alternatives, assesses the benefits and drawbacks, tries to consider all the information available and then finally makes a decision. A rational approach is usually adopted when individuals have vast amount of time to think and their goals are clear. Conversely, a non-rational approach is one which applies to individuals who feel competent in the subject matter at hand. 

The essential elements of a non-rational approach is the subjectively voluntary choice, the acceptance of other alternatives available and the awareness of alternatives. Evidence has shown that human beings are not capable of carrying out the mental operations assumed by the rational approach to decision making. My prior decision making style is one which makes me fall in the category of an irrational decision makers. I draw upon past experiences and beliefs when it came to me deciding which car I should purchase. According to Jervis, cognitive contortions are common. Unless I saw upon driving my vehicle that there was some major issue I would not think upon even looking at alternatives. Change of manufacturer would only come if the car was to be deemed a failure in my eyes. My decision making style makes me an individual who is an intuitive decision maker, but also spontaneous. My decision in reference to my example was one that done based off my gut feeling. With the speed of transaction I just wanting to get everything over the line, not thinking about anything else but just wanting the process to conclude. 

My decision making is one which was driven by my emotions. I am a 19 year old student who had the opportunity of purchasing their first car. According to ZHU and Thagard emotions can significantly impact the origin of an action, along with its execution and control. The outcome of my end decision was one that can be deemed as a satisficing decision. According to Agosto, previous studies have shown that young people use satisficing behaviours when it comes to their decision making. This approach I took with my decision making process. I was satisfied that the car had everything I desired, thus at the time I believed I made a good decision. Herbert states that decision makers make satisficing decisions over the optimal ones because an individual will draw upon past experiences such as I did in order to make decisions. I am familiar with the brand, I felt they had what I desired hence I got the model I did. Upon reflecting from my decision making process with reference to Kolb’s learning cycle I have learnt that as I grow and mature I will make a decision such as buying a vehicle at some point in the future. I would incorporate in to my decision making elements of a rational approach. I would take more time in analysing all the possible options available to me. I would compare prices of alternatives. The information searching process would be implemented which would help me make a more well-rounded conclusion. 

In conclusion, the issue with my decision making style is that it can be deemed as very short-term. There is not enough strategic thinking going in to my decisions. Constraints which I did not have this time may occur next time so I must be prepared. I need to self-develop myself in to thinking deeper about all possible outcomes rather than trusting my gut. My decision making process this time was one that posed great risk for me as I rushed the decisions at hand. Next time I would look to minimise this in order to reach my ‘satisfying’ level. Moving in to the future my decision making process will incorporate both a rational and non-rationa.