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        STRESS AND THE DECISION MAKING PROCESS




                          by

                    Diana Morabito

                       EMGT 266

                   December 7, 1983

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    Decision making is one of the most stressful
aspects of life.  Decisional stress is "the simulta-
neous opposing tendencies within the individual
to accept and reject a given course of action" which
produces such symptoms as "hesitation, vacillation,
feelings of uncertainty, and signs of acute emotional
stress whenever the decision comes within the focus of
attention" [Janis, p.46].  Other symptoms include
increase in heart rate, insomnia, loss of appetite,
and irritability.  The process is so unpleasant that
some people even refuse to make decisions!  This is
obviously not a practical solution.  Fortunately, it is
possible to make quality decisions and reduce the
overall stress of the decision making process.  To do
this, one must first understand all stages of decision
making.

    The first stage of decision making is called the
predecision or conflict stage.  This is the stage before
the person has committed to a decision.  There are many
factors which cause the decision maker stress during
this stage.

     The amount of stress associated with a decision
depends on the possible consequences of the decision.  A
decision of little importance will cause little stress.
Thus it is more stressful to choose a place to work than
it is to buy an ice cream cone - even if there are 32
flavors!

    A decision will be less stressful if it can be
easily changed if it turns out to be incorrect.  Once
you have chosen a place to work it is difficult to
retract your decision, because other companies that
also offered you a job may have given the job to
another applicant or you may suffer a financial loss
from not working.  There may also be social constraints
that make it difficult to change your mind.  For
example, your peers may lose respect for you because
they think you are capricious.  However, if you decide
that you do not like the flavor of your ice cream, you
may buy another ice cream cone with little financial
loss and with no social stigma.

    A choice between two things that are different is
more stressful than between two things that have many
elements in common.  This is a result of "cognitive
overlap".  "The greater the cognitive overlap between
the two alternatives, that is, the less the qualitative
distinction between them, the smaller the dissonance
that exists after the choice has been made" [Festinger,
p.41].  If job A and B both are the same position, with
the same salary, and the same distance from home, there
will be little conflict in choosing one over the other.

    A decision will be more stressful when the choice is
between solutions of similar desirability but little
commonality.  If job A is undeniably superior to job B
there will be little stress in choosing job A.

    There will be more stress during this phase if the
person has previously made bad decisions.  This is
called "anticipatory regret".  It is defined as "the
main psychological effects of the various worries that
beset a decision maker before any losses actually
materialize."  "Such worries, which include anticipa-
tory guilt and shame, provoke hesitation and doubt,
making salient the realization that even the most
attractive of the available choices might turn out
badly" [Janis, p. 222].  This is actually a positive
source of stress since it discourages people from
making hasty decisions.

    The external conditions under which a decision must
be made has a large effect on the level of stress
produced.  Conflict theory attempts to describe the
means by which external conditions interfere with the
process of quality decision making.  It defines two
behavioral responses to external conditions.  They are
defensive avoidance and hypervigilance.

     Defensive avoidance may occur because the person
has either insufficient or excessive information to
make a decision with confidence.  When this occurs the
person loses hope about finding a satisfactory solu-
tion.  With not enough information the person fears
making a decision because of possible unknown negative
consequences.  In fact, lack of necessary information
was cited as the most stressful part of the job for
many information professionals who complained that they
"never get the information I need" [Ivancevich, p.802].
Because of information overload, called cognitive
complexity, the person feels the decision is too com-
plex.  This causes a high degree of anxiety which
interferes with their thinking process [Janis, p. 17].
Information overload occurs because people are only
able to pay attention to a limited number of pieces of
information at one time.

    Defensive avoidance takes many forms.  The person
may try to avoid making a decision at all, which is
procrastination, or try to shift responsibility to
someone else.  Furthermore, they may gather support for
the least objectionable choice in order to increase its
desirability, at the same time ignoring possible nega-
tive consequences.  This is called bolstering.  They
find support from peers who agree with that particular
choice and simply avoid people that disagree; or they
collect information that supports their decision while
ignoring negative information.  The person may even
misinterpret information received to substantiate their
position.  The people who employ this tactic usually
maintain low levels of stress, but will become
emotionally alarmed when faced with negative
information.

    If the person has hope about finding a solution,
but they perceive that there is not adequate time to
find a good solution, they panic.  This is called
hypervigilance.  Their increase in stress is so great
that it interferes with their ability to make a
decision.  They listen to all available information
without screening the quality of the information and
vacillate from one choice to another.  Studies about
disasters show that "when people are warned about
oncoming danger that will materialize within a very
short time interval, their fear mounts to such a high
level and they act so inappropriately that they would
be better off with no warning at all" [Janis, p.59].

    Conflict theory states that a quality decision will
not be made under conditions which foster defensive
avoidance and hypervigilance.  However the situation is
not hopeless.  The person who loses hope about finding
a satisfactory solution may increase their level of
confidence by seeking out more information and talking
to people who may see other alternatives.  When a
person perceives that there is not enough time to make
a decision, they may try to extend the deadline.

    The second stage of decision making is the commit-
ment stage.  This has the effect of solidifying the
decision.  "Following public commitment, the decision
maker realizes that others are affected by his decision
and expect him to hold to it.  The stigma of being
known as erratic and unstable is in itself a powerful
negative incentive that inhibits even discussing with
others the possibility of reversing a decision.  The
decision maker knows that failure to adhere to a
commitment may lead to severe penalties, adverse social
criticism, and loss of self-esteem." [Janis, p.280].
These factors may cause the person to adhere to course
of action even when negative consequences ensue.

    The last stage is called the post-decisional stage.
The person has made their decision and now must live
with it.  The theory of cognitive dissonance describes
this stage of the decision making process.  It states
that when inconsistency or dissonance exists between
two cognitions, which are "knowledge about the environ-
ment, oneself, or one's behavior", a person is uncom-
fortable and will strive to reduce the dissonance
[Festinger, p.3].  "When a person makes a decision, a
corresponding behavioral element is established and his
cognitions about the alternatives among which he has
chosen are then consonant or dissonant with this ele-
ment.  All the favorable aspects of the unchosen alter-
natives and unfavorable aspects of the one chosen are
dissonant with the choice" [Erlich, p. 98].

    Dissonance may be reduced by the reduction or
addition of cognitive elements.  Searching for positive
information concerning the decision will increase the
consonant elements.  The act of commitment also adds a
new consonant element, because of the added social
pressures to maintain the decision.  Decreasing the
importance of the remaining dissonant elements will
also reduce the dissonance.  For example, one may
decide that the probability of the negative outcome is
so low that they can ignore it.

    Dissonance may also be changed by an attitude
change of the person.  "The amount of attitude change
following forced compliance is an inverse function of
the amount of reward given for compliance" [Brehm, p.
17].  This is because the amount of dissonance is
greater when the reward is less and the person will try
to relieve the dissonance by changing their attitude.
When the reward is great, however, the person can
rationalize their compliance since the rewards far
outweigh the drawbacks.

    The degree of stress experienced by the decision
maker is directly proportional to the quality of the
decision made.  If the person has investigated the
problem sufficiently, they will be more confident of
their decision and will be emotionally prepared if a
possible negative consequence materializes.  However,
if the person encounters unforeseen negative results,
they may abandon their decision and return to the
conflict phase, with the result that there will be
added negative social stigma from retracting the deci-
sion and added anticipatory regret.

    One way to increase the quality of the decision
made is to use a decisional balance sheet.  Figure 1
shows an example of this as applied to the decision to
choose a college.  Consequences are divided into four
categories :
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    1. Utilitarian gains and losses for self such as
       financial gains and career advancement.

    2. Utilitarian gains and losses for significant
       others such as the person's company or political
       organization.

    3. Self-approval or -disapproval such as the
       person's moral standards.

    4. Social approval or disapproval, especially that
       of people who are considered to be experts or
       of people who are important to the decision
       maker [Festinger, p. 180].

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    The decisional balance sheet was shown to encourage
people to "select a wider array of alternatives in
formulating the decision, to express less regret and
report less concern about their choice following a
decision, and were less interested in receiving suppor-
tive, dissonance reducing information" [Mann 1972, p.
291].

    Since the balance sheet encourages the person to
consider all possible negative consequences, they can
prepare for these consequences and are less likely to
abandon their decision when these negative consequences
occur.  This is called "emotional inoculation".  This
occurs because "whenever a person anticipates a given
type of negative feedback, before executing a new
decision, he is stimulated to find (through information
seeking or memory scanning) an appropriate form of
reassurance that will enable him to believe the deci-
sion will work out favorably despite the anticipated
setback" [Janis, p.158] This has implications for the
place of work.  It was shown that the turnover rate for
people given realistic information about the job was
lower than for people who were only told the positive
aspects.  "Being informed in advance about the setbacks
to be expected on a new job makes an employee less
likely to become disillusioned and to reverse his or
her decision when setbacks are subsequently
encountered." [Janis, p. 156]

    Another technique that is used to increase the
quality of the decision making process is called emo-
tional roll playing.  "Emotional roll playing sets up a
make-believe situation that forces the individual to
take a role in which he must confront information and
ideas that until then have been ignored or successfully
blocked out"  [Mann 1967, p. 334].  A case was cited
that described a woman who intended to divorce her
husband.  Initially her balance sheet showed few
negative consequences about the divorce and emphasized
the negative consequences of staying married.  When she
was asked to imagine what life would be like if she
were not married, she realized that she would be lonely
and miss her husband.  Although she still decided to
get a divorce, she was able to make plans to reduce
her loneliness after separation by sharing an apartment
with a friend.  In this case, the post-decisional
stress that would have occurred as a result of this
unexpected result was minimized by her expectation of
the consequence [Janis, pg.380-381].

    These techniques can be used to increase the qual-
ity of the decision made by individuals and groups.
They are derived from the understanding of the deci-
sions making process as described by both conflict
theory and cognitive dissonance.  They should be incor-
porated as techniques used in a holistic approach to
stress management.
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                       figure 1.
         Balance Sheet Used to Choose College


               Alternative #1           Alternative #2
                  Harvard                  Yale



Utilitarian  - Choice of living
  gains for    at home or on
  self         campus.

             - Great                 - Great
               Engineering             Engineering
               Department              Department

             - Offers scholar-       - Generous
               ships to enable         scholarship
               students to live        aid
               on campus

             - In Boston


Utilitarian  - If I lived at home,   - I would be
  losses       my urge to do           compelled
  for self     school work would       to live
               be less                 away


Utilitarian  - My family would
  gains for    save money if I
  others       lived at home

             - I would be able to
               live with my
               friends and family

Utilitarian                          - My family would
  losses                               be forced to
  for                                  pay more for
  others                               my education

                                     - I would not be
                                       able to return
                                       home that often
.pg
                  figure 1 continued


Social       - Most people           - Most people
  Approval     consider it an          consider it an
               honor to attend         honor to attend
               Harvard                 Yale

             - It will enable        - It will mean
               anyone to attain        alot to me when
               high goals              I get out of
                                       school


Social
  Dis-
  approval


Self         - Prestigious           - Prestigious
  Approval     university              university

             - reflects on my        - reflects on my
               ability to do           ability to do
               good work               good work

Self         - too academic          - too academic
  Dis-
  approval
.PG

                     BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aronson, Elliot.  The Social Animal. San Francisco:
    W. H. Freeman and Company,  Third Edition, 1980.

Brehm, Jack W. and Arthur R. Cohan.  Explorations in
    cognitive dissonance.  New York:  Jon Wiley &
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Broadbent, D.E.  Decision and Stress.  New York:
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Coch, Lester and John R. P. French. "Overcoming
    Resistance to Change."  Human Relation, 1948, I,
    512-532.

Erlich, D.,G. Guttman, P. Schonbach, and J. Mills.
    "Postdecision Exposure to Relevant Information."
    Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 1957,
    54, 98-102.

Fesinger, Leon.  A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance.
    White Plains, New York:  Row, Peterson and
    Company, 1957.

Ivancevich, Jon, H. Albert Napier, and James Werherbe.
    "Occupational Stress, Attitudes, and Health
    Problems in the Information Systems Professional".
    Communications of the ACM vol. 26 no. 10. (October
    1983) 800-807.

Janis, Irving L. and Leon Mann.  Decision Making A
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    Commitment.  New York:  The Free Press, 1977.

Mann, Leon.  "The Effects of Emotional Role Playing
    on Desire to Modify Smoking Habits.  Journal of
    Experimental Social Psychology, 1967, 3, 334-48.

Mann, Leon.  "Use of a Balance Sheet Procedure to
    Improve the Quality of Personal Decision Making:
    A Field Experiment with College Applicants."
    Journal of Vocational Behavior, 1972, 2, 291-300.




