Summary: | When people find
it difficult to make a decision, they may opt to let chance decide. Flipping a
coin, rolling a die, or using a counting-out rhyme are well-known decision
aids. When individuals directly follow the aid’s suggestion, the decision aid
acts as a decider. But when the decision aid elicits a felt response, such as
liking or disliking the aid’s suggestion, and individuals act upon this
response, the decision aid serves as a catalyst. This manuscript investigates
whether and how many individuals apply these two strategies. In four studies
(total N = 1135), we focus on coin flips as one of the most common decision
aids and place an emphasis on the catalyst strategy. We examine (1) the
frequency of previous experiences and future willingness to use a coin flip to
make decisions, (2) which affective reactions accompany the coin flip when
using it as catalyst, and (3) the circumstances under which individuals are
more versus less likely to accept the use of a random decision-making aid to
come to a decision. These results illustrate the catalyst phenomenon but also
highlight the boundary conditions of individuals’ willingness to use randomness
as an aid for decision making. We discuss directions for future research as
well as potential applications.
|