INDIVIDUAL DECISION MAKING BEHAVIOR AND PERSONALITY: A PRELIMINARY STUDY USING A JAPANESE UNIVERSITY SAMPLE UNIVERSITY SAMPLE

Decision making is a basic cognitive function which is found across cultures. In the present preliminary study, the decision making behavior and personality characteristics of a sample of 156 undergraduate students from a Japanese national university were examined by using measures based on the conflict theory of decision making proposed by Janis and Mann (1977). Results supported prediction based on the conflict theory that high selfesteem as a decision maker is positively correlated with a vigilances style of decision making, and negatively correlated with the maladaptive style of‘complacency’, ‘defensive avoidance’and‘hypervigilance’. Comparisons made with a similar sample of Australian students revealed differences in decision making behavior. These results are discussed in term of their consequences for the crosscultural application of the conflict theory of decision making.