Are decisive and rational people more likely to be at the top of the career ladder? A quantitative investigation of cognition and behaviour in decision making as predictors of career outcomes

Kiseleva, Margarita (2022) Are decisive and rational people more likely to be at the top of the career ladder? A quantitative investigation of cognition and behaviour in decision making as predictors of career outcomes. PhD thesis, Birkbeck, University of London.

Abstract

In this thesis, the relationships between decision making and career outcomes were examined in a series of pre-registered quantitative studies. Career outcomes were defined as hierarchical status, authority in the organisation, and career satisfaction. Studies 1 and 2 focused on rationality and intuition in making decisions. Study 3 examined decision avoidance and dependent decision making. After controlling for demographic variables and decision confidence, neither rational nor intuitive decision making predicted career outcomes. However, decision confidence was a significant predictor of hierarchical status and authority level in both studies and of career satisfaction in one study. Based on prior research showing that confidence is often confused with competence and therefore may confer an unfair social advantage, this suggest that people exhibiting decision confidence may be favoured for higher-level jobs. Alternatively, being in a high-level job may make people more confident in their decisions and not the other way around. Existing research proposes that this relationship may be bi-directional. In Study 3, decision avoidance predicted authority level and career satisfaction, but not hierarchical status, while dependent decision making did not predict any career outcomes. This suggests that positions below senior may still wield significant authority and thus decision-making power and are likely to be occupied by people who proactively approach decisions. Viewing these findings from the person-situation interaction perspective, it is suggested that even in employees predisposed to decision avoidance, such behaviour may be mitigated to help them improve career outcomes. With that in mind, organisational factors that may be linked to increases in avoidant and dependent decision making, such as psychosocial work environment and anxiety, were examined. Study 4, which used mediation analysis, provided initial evidence for such links and a basis for future causal research, with a view to gathering knowledge on mitigating undesirable decision-making behaviour through improving employee well-being.

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