April 18, 2012	Volume 12, Issue 16
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Reactance and Decision-Making

by Rick Brenner

Some decisions are easy. Some are difficult. Some decisions that we think will be easy turn out to be very, very difficult. What makes decisions difficult?

Because most decisions are easily made, we make many more decisions than we realize. For example, you decided to read this wherever you are now reading it. You can probably reconstruct the reasons for your decision, but you might have to think about it because the decision was so easy.

For difficult decisions, we have meetings. We debate back and forth. The debates can be long and heated. Sometimes we make the decision and then realize we need to rethink. Difficult decisions can be messy.

Some difficulties arise because the issues are complex, we lack important information, politics is involved, or goodness knows what else. But often, the content of the decision is only part of the problem. Difficulty can also arise from the psychology of deciding.

Here are five factors that can make deciding difficult.

Reactance arises from rejecting options

Psychological reactance is the human response to a loss of behavioral freedom, or to the perception of threats to behavioral freedom. Because choosing one option necessarily implies loss of freedom to choose the other options, making a decision can create reactance. See "Reactance and Micromanagement," Point Lookout for April 11, 2012, for more.

To alleviate reactance, we sometimes avoid deciding, or we do what we can to delay.

Reactance increases when time grows short

When decisions have time limits — even self-imposed limits — we experience reactance because we perceive threats to our freedoms that increase as the time for decision draws near. The freedoms that are threatened include the freedom to choose any of the less-favored options, and the freedom not to choose at all.

As time grows short, things can get tense.

Less-favored options become more attractive

One consequence To alleviate reactance, we
sometimes avoid deciding, or
we do what we can to delayof reactance is a phenomenon called convergence, in which the most favored options become less attractive, while the less-favored options become more attractive. Typically, the effect on the less-favored options is greater, with the effect on the most-favored of the less-favored being greatest.

As we move closer to a decision, the differences between options can blur.

Subversion of the process

As the decision process proceeds, and reactance increases, we sometimes subvert the decision-making process. For example, we might suddenly question preliminary conclusions, such as the early elimination of some options. When this comes about as a consequence of reactance, it's more likely to occur as the field of choices narrows.

Reactance can cause us to "unbutton" preliminary decisions that we thought we had agreed to.

Reactance is enhanced by multiple attractive options

When there are many attractive options, choosing one threatens the freedom to choose the others, which leads to reactance. The most attractive option tends to become less attractive than the second most attractive option.

Inversions like this can occur when there are multiple options.

But there is some good news. Groups that understand the problems created by the psychology of deciding are much less likely to exhibit those problems. Understanding them makes them less difficult.  Top    Next Issue

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More articles on Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness:

First Aid for Painful Meetings

The foundation of any team meeting is its agenda. A crisply focused agenda can make the difference between a long, painful affair and finishing early. If you're the meeting organizer, develop and manage the agenda for maximum effectiveness.

Games for Meetings: Part III

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Take Any Seat: Part I

When you attend a meeting, how do you choose your seat? Whether you chair or not, where you sit helps to determine your effectiveness and your stature during the meeting. Here are some tips for choosing your seat strategically.

Towards More Gracious Disagreement

We spend a sizable chunk of time correcting each other. Some believe that we win points by being right, or lose points by being wrong, but nobody seems to know who keeps the official score. Here are some thoughts to help you kick the habit.

Self-Serving Bias in Organizations

We all want to believe that we can rely on the good judgment of decision makers when they make decisions that affect organizational performance. But they're human, and they are therefore subject to a cognitive bias known as self-serving bias. Here's a look at what can happen.

See also Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness and Problem Solving and Creativity for more related articles.

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