Difficult decisions

Bernard Nijstad, Gedrag & Organisatie, volume 24, September 2011, nr. 3, pp. 304-315.In the scientific literature, there is no consensus about the causes of (subjectively experienced) decision difficulty. It is important, however, to know more about this, because more resources are invested in difficult rather than easy decisions, because difficult decisions are associated with stress, and because decision difficulty affects people's choice behavior. I present a theory about decision difficulty, which consists of two stages. In the first stage, the decision maker tries to uncover which of the alternatives is sufficiently distinct from other alternatives. In the second stage, the decision maker evaluates whether the favorite alternative in fact is good enough. This theory is illustrated with examples of field and laboratory research.