The causes of poor decision making can be very different. The capacity to tackle day-to-day issues is often explained not so much by knowledge as it is by decision-making fluency. As a result, difficulties in this area can significantly impede adjusting to the surroundings, both professionally and emotionally.
Fortunately, these difficulties may be resolved; nevertheless, it is crucial to identify their origins and triggers to intervene in them. As a result, this article will examine the common causes of poor decision making.
The 5 most common causes of poor decision making
There is hardly any psychological character problem whose causes can be adequately defined in a shortlist; moreover, it is usual for many to interact with each other. As a result, what follows is mostly a review of the most typical reasons for decision-making difficulties. However, please keep in mind that some of them may partially overlap.
However, if you plan to visit a psychologist to find out the causes of poor decision making and performance in dealing with duties and obligations in general, bear in mind that you do not need to know what is wrong with you ahead of time. Part of the role of psychology specialists who treat patients is to investigate each situation and determine the root causes of poor decision making.
- Excessive perfectionism
Perfectionism may have the opposite impact of what is sought, paralyzing individuals since they frequently do not move from thoughts to practice. This is one of the most common causes of poor decision making.
This is because doing so would expose the flaws in the strategy. Thus they would continue to think about their endeavor endlessly. Consequently, by the time they execute what they want to accomplish, they frequently do not have enough time to achieve what they initially planned to do, which causes dissatisfaction.
- Inadequate assertiveness
Some decisions include taking the step of conveying something uncomfortable or possibly conflicting to another person, such as the fact that we have not yet begun working on a project because we lack the necessary time, that we wish to split up with our partner, and so on. As a result, one of the probable causes of difficulty in reaching a final choice in the face of something that also concerns others is a lack of assertiveness. In these instances, it is critical to concentrate on social skills and control rejection anxiety. - Reliance
The fact that we have been accustomed to relying on others is reflected in numerous ways in our manner of thinking, behaving, and feeling, some of which are incredibly subtle.
In this type of circumstance, for example, it is usual not to feel good about any decision we make on our own, prompting us to seek the advice or opinion of that reference person constantly. This limits our independence and exacerbates the situation by making opting for ourselves even more unusual.
- Rumination on psychological issues
Psychological rumination is defined as being unable to stop our “stream of thought” when it repeatedly brings to mind the same pictures, ideas, or concerns… As a result, it is a phenomenon related to intrusive thoughts and anxiety because what stresses us the most has a more significant power to enter our awareness without permission.
Many people begin to stray and notice how their mind “wanders” before reaching a definite conclusion about their thoughts because they do not know how to manage psychological rumination appropriately.
- Ineffective control of distractors
Although the causes of decision-making difficulties that we have seen thus far are primarily introspective, based on mental processes, we must not forget that the way we interact with our surroundings is also part of psychology.
Given that assessing pros and disadvantages to eventually “risk” making a decision necessitates focus, the environment in which we participate in these activities has a significant impact. Furthermore, in professional scenarios, it is usual to always be in the same spot while needing to pick between several possibilities, thus making minor modifications in that environment might have a significant effect right away.
