TY - JOUR

T1 - What people want from their professionals

T2 - attitudes toward decision-making strategies

AU - Eastwood, Joseph

AU - Snook, Brent

AU - Luther, Kirk

PY - 2012/12

Y1 - 2012/12

N2 - Attitudes toward four types of decision‐making strategies—clinical/fully rational, clinical/heuristic, actuarial/fully rational, and actuarial/ heuristic—were examined across three studies. In Study 1, undergraduate students were split randomly between legal and medical decision‐ making scenarios and asked to rate each strategy in terms of the following: (i) preference; (ii) accuracy; (iii) fairness; (iv) ethicalness; and (v) its perceived similarity to the strategies used by actual legal and medical professionals to make decisions. Studies 2 and 3 extended Study 1 by using a more relevant scenario and a community sample, respectively. Across the three studies, the clinical/fully rational strategy tended to be rated the highest across all attitudinal judgments, whereas the actuarial/heuristic strategy tended to receive the lowest ratings. Considering the two strategy‐differentiating factors separately, clinically based strategies tended to be rated higher than actuarially based strategies, and fully rational strategies were always rated higher than heuristic‐based strategies. The potential implications of the results for professionals’ and those affected by their decisions are discussed.

AB - Attitudes toward four types of decision‐making strategies—clinical/fully rational, clinical/heuristic, actuarial/fully rational, and actuarial/ heuristic—were examined across three studies. In Study 1, undergraduate students were split randomly between legal and medical decision‐ making scenarios and asked to rate each strategy in terms of the following: (i) preference; (ii) accuracy; (iii) fairness; (iv) ethicalness; and (v) its perceived similarity to the strategies used by actual legal and medical professionals to make decisions. Studies 2 and 3 extended Study 1 by using a more relevant scenario and a community sample, respectively. Across the three studies, the clinical/fully rational strategy tended to be rated the highest across all attitudinal judgments, whereas the actuarial/heuristic strategy tended to receive the lowest ratings. Considering the two strategy‐differentiating factors separately, clinically based strategies tended to be rated higher than actuarially based strategies, and fully rational strategies were always rated higher than heuristic‐based strategies. The potential implications of the results for professionals’ and those affected by their decisions are discussed.

KW - Actuarial

KW - Attitudes

KW - Clinical

KW - Decision making

KW - Full rationality

KW - Heuristics

U2 - 10.1002/bdm.741

DO - 10.1002/bdm.741

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 8815929

VL - 25

SP - 458

EP - 468

JO - Journal of Behavioral Decision Making

JF - Journal of Behavioral Decision Making

SN - 0894-3257

IS - 5

ER -