Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Individual Differences In Decision-Making, Catelyn N. Shipp

Honors College Theses

When making decisions, most people tend to avoid uncertain outcomes or risks. However, individual differences, such as optimism versus pessimism and liberalism versus conservatism, may lead to variable approaches and outcomes in the decision-making process. Thus, the goal of this research is to examine individual differences in decision-making preferences and whether these associate with personality characteristics (i.e., optimism/pessimism and conservative/liberal views). To test this, the current study involves a probabilistic gambling task, adapted from behavioral judgment and decision-making research. Participants are shown “wheel-of-fortune-like” spinner wheel stimuli divided into green, red, and gray sections. The relative proportion of each color represents …