Styles of Making Risky Decisions

The following is a self-assessment exercise designed to help you better understand how you make decisions.  Simply read over the items, and choose the response most like your own.  Then compare your responses to the items in the three columns labeled "Style A" or "Style B" or "Style C", add up the number of responses for each column, and discover your style of decision making.

Dimension

Item

I.  Attitude toward change

 

 

 (A) I prefer security to novelty.
(B) I value security & novelty about equally.
(C) I prefer novelty to security.

II.  Search strategy

 

 

 (A) I make a quick overall survey of possibilities, hoping that something will hit me.
(B) I keep producing & then going over my possible choices.
(C) I think of a number of alternatives but stop after reasonable search.

III. Attention to feelings

 

 

  (A) I decide among alternatives not only by reasoning but by taking my feelings into account.
(B) I make major decisions almost exclusively on the basis of my feelings.
(C) I mistrust my feelings as a basis for a major decision; I try to use reason almost entirely.

IV. Decision rule

 

 

 (A) I believe there is one right decision, and its my job to dig it out.
(B) I believe there is no one right decision; I just need to find one that is good enough.
(C) I believe in choosing the first decision that really grabs me.

V. Sense of consequence

 

 

 (A) I don’t try to predict consequences of my decision, I expect things will work out okay.
(B) I do think about consequences, tending to focus on the bad things that might happen.
(C) I try to think of both the good and bad consequences of my decision.

VI. Pre-decision emotions

 

 

 (A) In thinking about taking a risky step I feel mostly anxiety.
(B) In thinking about taking a risky step, I feel a mix of anxiety and excitement.
(C) In thinking about taking a risky step, I feel mostly excitement.

VII. Time expended in decision-making process

 

 

 (A) I usually make decisions--even big ones--quickly.
(B) I usually take a fairly long time to make big decisions.
(C) I usually take a very long time to make big decisions.

VIII. Attitude toward new information

 

 

 (A) I will consider new information even after I’ve arrived at a probable decision.
(B) I’m not interested in getting new information after I’ve made a probable decision.
(C) I feel compelled either to seek out new information or to shut it out after I’ve made a probable decision.

IX. Post-decision strategy

 

 

 (A) Once I’ve made a decision, I usually don’t think about it before launching into action.
(B) Once I’ve made a decision, I often experience serious doubts & may change my mind.
(C) Once I’ve made a decision, I usually rally behind it after rechecking.

X. Evaluating the outcome of the risky decision

 

 

 

 (A) After I have acted on the decision, I tend to worry or regret that I didn’t do something else.
(B) After I have acted on the decision, I tend to put it out of my mind.
(C) After I have acted on the decision, I tend to think about what I have learned from it.

 

 
Style A  Style B Style C
Anxious Risk Taker  Balanced Risk Taker Careless Risk Taker
I. A  I. B  I. C
II. B  II. C II. A
III. C  III. A III. B
IV. A  IV. B  IV. C
V. B V. C  V. A
VI. A VI. B  VI. C
VII. C VII. B  VII. A
VIII. C VIII. A  VIII. B
IX. B  IX. C  IX. A
X. A  X. C  X. B

Add up your responses in each column.

The highest score indicates how you tend to make decisions: Anxiously, with balance, or carelessly

Courtesy of Dale Kay Lillak, LMFT, from an unknown source

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