Decision Making Techniques
Mihaela CHIRU
Institute of Educational Sciences, BucharestHistory
We currently have considerable information and data regarding decision making, through
the contribution of mathematicians, economists, psychologists. It is certain that good
decisions lead to good results, whatever the field of application. We also know that
decision-making is an acquired skill (Anderson, 2002), which is why some American
universities teach decision psychology courses (generally centred on presentation of
results from research and theoretical explanations as declarative or factual knowledge),
but not enough weight is given to decision-making practice and the respective skills.
Decision making has always been a priority subject and a strategy element in the political
and economic life, while in today’s lay world is what separates the worthy and goal-
oriented individuals from those who are as entitled to success, but nevertheless expect
others or fate to decide for them.
Theoretical background
We make decisions on a daily basis, except not all involve mental mechanisms of a
rational kind. Decisions with minimum impact on one’s self – such as ordinary, routine,
neutral, irrelevant or non-diagnostic – do not require deliberation, or we can say that the
decision-making process unfolds automatically along with one’s life style, values, and
experience. In exchange, big stake decisions – such as choosing a job, a career pathway,