DECISION FATIGUE:
How the Amount of Decisions We Make Affects the Quality of Our Decision-Making Beckie Mossor, BIS, RVT In a society of overwhelming choices, the concept of decision fatigue resonates with many. While one may not give much thought to how many decisions they make in a day, it’s easy to imagaine that the number is in the thousands. A study by Cornell University found that the average individual makes 226.7 decisions a day related to food alone.1 While there is a multitude of factors that go into the actual number of decisions a person makes in a day, it is estimated that the average adult makes 35,000 decisions a day.1 As this field of study emerges, psychologists and scientists studying decision fatigue are finding correlations between the number of decisions made and the quality of those decisions.2 Understanding the individual's limited stamina for quality decision-making, can help one create daily habits designed to reduce the number of decisions made, increasing the resources available for decision-making. Simple awareness changes can help identify areas of unnecessary decisionmaking energy and help create patterns that conserve decisionmaking energy and avoid decision regret.
Defining Decision Fatigue
Psychology recognizes decision fatigue (DF) as a pattern of an individual’s decisions deteriorating in quality after a long session of decision-making. This is caused by exhausted cognitive resources leading to decreased quality of decisions, self-control and task orientation.3 This state of fatigue is associated with decreased selfcontrol as well as a reduced capacity and willingness to perform.4 Increasingly, both psychologists and neuroscientists are studying the effects of decision-making on the brain and the body by examining the quality of fine-motor skills, mathematical problemsolving and even food choices after periods of mental fatigue. Their studies form baseline measurements for the effects of depleted mental stamina.
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Cause of Decision Fatigue
By definition, DF is caused by the depletion of mental stamina due to increased or prolonged mental fatigue. In other words, depletion takes place when there are too many decisions in too short of a time. That said, DF can affect individuals differently, and there are other factors to consider (sleep, nutrition, stress, etc.) in determining mental stamina. How much a decision contributes to fatigue is not clearly understood at this time, but there is evidence that larger or more important decisions take the greatest toll on mental fatigue. Therefore, the “cost” (monetary, emotional or otherwise) may influence the amount of fatigue imposed on the brain. A more direct correlation exists between the number of decisions in a period. For example, when buying a car, individuals were more likely to select default vehicle options when choosing them at the end of the car buying process than at the beginning, showing less engagement and increased reliance on decision shortcuts.5
