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Making the Right Decision: Intensifying the Worth of a Chosen Option
Author(s) -
Higgins E. Tory,
Nakkawita Emily,
RossignacMilon Maya,
Pinelli Federica,
Jun Youjung
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of consumer psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.433
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1532-7663
pISSN - 1057-7408
DOI - 10.1002/jcpy.1194
Subject(s) - process (computing) , interpretation (philosophy) , decision maker , making of , focus (optics) , business decision mapping , decision fatigue , decision field theory , decision making , psychology , ethical decision , decision engineering , decision analysis , management science , social psychology , computer science , marketing , business , economics , management , physics , mathematical economics , purchasing , optics , programming language , operating system
When people make decisions, they want the outcomes of their choice to be as positive as possible. But they also want the decision‐making process itself to be conducted in the right way. Though this is often described as making decisions that are moral or ethical, it also includes making decisions that are appropriate—that are suitable and fitting. We focus on this latter, overlooked interpretation, and propose that making the right decision is about effectively establishing what is true and real. We discuss three factors that can lead people to experience their decision‐making process as being right : (1) making a decision in the “right way”; (2) making a decision in a manner that “feels right” given the decision maker's current motivational orientation; and (3) making a decision based upon a “shared reality” with others. We review evidence that making the right decision in each of these ways intensifies the worth of a given chosen option.