Big decisions are messier than they look, but there are things you can try before taking the leap – or not.
Articles on Decisions
Displaying 1 - 20 of 29 articles
Your brain is constantly gathering evidence for making decisions – even when there’s only one option to pick from.
Many philosophers have noticed the similarities between environmental damage and the puzzle of the self-torturer.
Black Friday is a psychological event, carefully designed to take advantage of how your brain makes decisions. But you can stay one step ahead this sales season.
Hunger is setting in for Alone Australia contestants. Here’s what’s going on in the body and the mind.
Many philosophers cast doubt on ‘doxastic voluntarism’: the idea that we can control what we believe, just like that. So can people be held to account for their beliefs?
A person’s style of making decisions can have an impact on their mental health.
Changing majors can cost money and time. Doing career-related research early on can help college students avoid that fate.
There’s so much to process in our daily lives, we need habits to get us through and give the brain a break.
Sometimes a choice over what to order at a restaurant or wear to work can feel as much an ordeal as major life decisions. Here’s what psychology research shows about why.
Office work feels draining for a reason. Your brain builds up toxic chemicals when you concentrate for a long time.
People tend to dislike uncertainty and risk – two things that are hard to avoid completely during a pandemic. That’s part of why it can feel especially draining to make even small decisions these days.
It’s human nature to unconsciously rely on quick rules to help make spur-of-the-moment decisions. New research finds physicians use these shortcuts, too, which can be bad news for some patients.
For each decision we make, we assign a certain level of confidence. How does the brain decide how much?
How you respond to a risk depends on how you weigh the costs and benefits of an action. The problem is you’re not just a logical computer, and emotions bias your interpretation of the facts.
A transcript of episode 14 of The Conversation Weekly podcast, including how people make their life’s biggest decisions.
Plus, a psychologist on how we look back at our big decisions in life. Listen to episode 14 of The Conversation Weekly podcast.
Cognitive scientists are investigating the ways relative factors like new options and the order they’re presented influence your choices and beliefs.
Psychological research presents some unsurprising wisdom about how to make big decisions without regret: focus on people, don’t miss opportunities, and stay true to yourself.
Leading tech companies are increasingly using AI to influence our behaviour. But how persuasive do we find virtual assistants?
Top contributors
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Associate Professor of Marketing, University of Technology Sydney
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Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine
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FAPESP-Postdoctoral Researcher at the Laboratory of Structural Biology and Zoochemistry, IB/RC (UNESP), University of São Paulo State
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Professor, Languages, Literatures and Cultures, Queen's University, Ontario
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Lecturer and Head of the Prediction and Decision-Making Lab, The University of Melbourne
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Professor of Developmental Neuroscience, University of Oxford
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Founder Professor of Computer Science, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
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Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Queen's University Belfast
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Associate Professor of Psychology, Vanderbilt University
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Assistant Professor of Health Economics, UMass Amherst
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chercheur CNRS en psychologie expérimentale, École normale supérieure (ENS) – PSL
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Postdoctoral fellow - Champalimaud Foundation, Fundación Champalimaud
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Assistant Professor of Habit Change, Bond University
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Director of the Centre for Critical and Major Incident Psychology, University of Liverpool
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Professor, Research Centre for Business in Society, Coventry University