Decision Making Styles

• July 16, 2015
• victor
• Active Duty and Veteran Supports, Fitness, General, Health, Healing and Wellness, Substance Abuse and Addiction

Certain decision making styles may be more effective in different situations.  However, it is probably obvious that the searching style is the most preferred.

Here is a quiz you can take to determine your style.

DIRECTIONS:
Read each statement and then use the one (1) to five (5) point scale to indicate the degree to which each statement applies to you. If the statement is not at all like you, give yourself a one (1). If it is very much like you, give yourself a five (5).

NOT AT ALL LIKE ME                                                                                                                                                                                             VERY MUCH LIKE ME

1. I spend time almost every day thinking about what I should do with my life.
2. I’m not sure what I’m doing at work; I think that things will work themselves out.
3. I have been acting according to the ways with which I was brought up.
4. I spend time on two or more occasions per week reading and talking to others about religious ideas.
5. When I discuss an idea with others, I try to assume their point of view and see the idea from their perspective.
6. I don’t think about things in advance; I decide things as they happen.
7. I’ve always had a purpose in my life; I was brought up to know what life is about and what standards to strive for.
8. Many times by not thinking about personal problems, they just go away by themselves.
9. On five or more occasions per week, I read and learn about economic, political, or social issues.
10. I do not think about my future now; it’s still years off.
11. I read about career possibilities and have talked to a lot of people trying to decide what I want.
12. Regarding religion, I’ve always known what I believe and don’t believe; I never ask myself questions about my beliefs.
13. I’ve known since high school or earlier that I would be working in the job that I am in and pursue the training that I have.
14. I prefer to have one set of beliefs, and not question them.
15. When I have to make a decision, I put it off for as long possible in order to see what will happen.
16. When I have a personal problem, I try to figure out the situation in order to understand it.
17. I prefer relying on the advice of a professional (e.g., chaplain, doctor, lawyer, instructor) when I have a personal problem.
18. I prefer not thinking about my life; I just try to do the things I like to do.
19. I prefer using my own ways of doing things to considering the ways other people do things.
20. I try not to think about or deal with problems for as long as I can.
21. I find that personal problems often require that I learn skills and information I did not know about.
22. I try not to get into situations that will require me to do a lot of work.
23. Once I learn one way to handle a problem, I prefer sticking with that way.
24. When I have to make a decision, I spend a lot of time finding out and thinking about a number of options before I make the decision.
25. I prefer dealing with situations where the standards are publicized and I already know them.
26. I prefer dealing with situations where I will have to establish the standards.
27. I do not believe problems will happen since things manage to work themselves out.
28. When making decisions, I want to have as much information as possible.
29. When I guess that a situation where I’m required to be is going to cause me pressure, I think of ways to get out of it.

In the Score column, write the number you circled for each corresponding item. Then add and record your
score for each category.

Graph the totals for each category on the following chart:

Style 1 = Ignoring

Style 2 = Selective

Style 3 = Searching