Individual differences in adult decision-making competence.

TLDR

The study evaluated the reliability and validity of seven behavioral decision‑making tasks designed to assess different aspects of the decision‑making process. The authors administered the seven tasks to a diverse sample of adults. The aggregated Adult Decision‑Making Competence (A‑DMC) index demonstrated good reliability and predictive validity, correlating with socioeconomic status, cognitive ability, decision‑making styles, and fewer negative life events, indicating it is a distinct construct relevant to real‑world decisions.

Abstract

The authors evaluated the reliability and validity of a set of 7 behavioral decision-making tasks, measuring different aspects of the decision-making process. The tasks were administered to individuals from diverse populations. Participants showed relatively consistent performance within and across the 7 tasks, which were then aggregated into an Adult Decision-Making Competence (A-DMC) index that showed good reliability. The validity of the 7 tasks and of overall A-DMC emerges in significant relationships with measures of socioeconomic status, cognitive ability, and decision-making styles. Participants who performed better on the A-DMC were less likely to report negative life events indicative of poor decision making, as measured by the Decision Outcomes Inventory. Significant predictive validity remains when controlling for demographic measures, measures of cognitive ability, and constructive decision-making styles. Thus, A-DMC appears to be a distinct construct relevant to adults' real-world decisions.