#decision-making — Public Fediverse posts

When a standard multiple-choice test of fluid intelligence (one that does not require pre-existing knowledge) is modified to allow estimates of uncertainty linked to financial rewards, women outperformed men. Better risk/reward assessments by women were also observed in other settings.

Summary: https://www.psypost.org/updating-the-multiple-choice-test-reveals-a-hidden-cognitive-advantage-in-women/

Original paper: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/738345

#Science #Intelligence #Gender #Confidence #DecisionMaking #RiskReward

An interesting short essay on choosing the time to act:

https://bigthink.com/mini-philosophy/kairos-the-ancient-greek-art-of-knowing-when-to-act/

Interesting enough that a lengthier exploration might be warranted.

#Philosopy #Time #DecisionMaking

DATE: May 14, 2026 at 04:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
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TITLE: Making snap judgments on dating apps hurts your own perceived value as a mate

URL: https://www.psypost.org/why-swiping-by-gut-feeling-on-dating-apps-might-lower-your-self-esteem/

Making snap, gut-level judgments on dating apps might leave users feeling worse about themselves than evaluating profiles methodically based on set criteria. A recent study published in Media Psychology found that while seeing a high number of potential partners increases feelings of being overwhelmed, it is the intuitive swiping strategy that actually harms users’ self-esteem and perceived value as a mate. These results suggest that the fast-paced design of modern dating platforms carries hidden psychological costs depending on how individuals choose to engage with the app.

Traditional online matchmaking agencies typically rely on lengthy questionnaires and deliberate algorithms to pair users. Modern mobile dating platforms take a vastly different approach, exposing users to a massive pool of seemingly available partners within a single session. Users are invited to evaluate these profiles rapidly with a simple swipe of their thumb. Platform designs, which offer positive social feedback in the form of matches, heavily incentivize this continuous browsing behavior.

Prior research into consumer behavior suggests that having an abundance of options can make decisions harder and leave people feeling dissatisfied. Psychologists often refer to this phenomenon as a tyranny of choice. Under this theory, an optimal environment filled with endless choices increases the pressure to succeed. If a user fails to find a partner or makes a bad choice, they have no excuses left and might blame their own personal shortcomings.

Marina F. Thomas, a researcher at the Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences in Austria, led the investigation alongside Alice Binder and Jörg Matthes from the University of Vienna. They set out to test how the sheer number of viewed profiles and the user’s personal decision-making style jointly affect psychological well-being. The investigators wanted to test whether dating apps provide the self-validation users often seek or if the apps simply overwhelm them.

To frame their experiment, the researchers utilized regulatory mode theory. This psychological concept explains that people usually make decisions using one of two primary modes. The assessment mode involves methodically judging options, comparing specific attributes, and trying to make the right, defensible choice. The locomotion mode is action-oriented. People using this mode make quick, intuitive decisions based on gut feelings, primarily trying to keep moving forward rather than overthinking.

To test these dynamics, the researchers recruited 401 undergraduate students for an online experiment. Participants were randomly assigned to view varying pools of dating app profiles. One group viewed a low number of 11 profiles, a second group viewed a medium number of 31 profiles, and a third group viewed a high number of 91 profiles. The photos were presented in a mock dating application specially designed for the study.

The researchers used a two-part method to influence how participants made their decisions. First, participants completed a writing task to prime their mindset. They wrote down personal memories of times they acted as a quick decision maker to spark the action-oriented mode, or they wrote about times they critically compared themselves to others to spark the assessment mode. A control group skipped this writing exercise and received no special instructions.

Following the writing task, participants were given explicit instructions for evaluating the dating profiles. One group was told to evaluate profiles critically, looking at specific physical traits, clothing styles, and perceived social status to make highly justified decisions. The action-oriented group was instructed to swipe intuitively and dynamically, basing their choices purely on first impressions and gut feelings.

After sorting through the mock profiles, participants answered questions designed to measure several psychological outcomes. The researchers assessed their state self-esteem, their fear of being single, how highly they rated their own value as a potential romantic partner, and how overwhelmed they felt. The software also silently recorded the percentage of profiles each participant chose to accept.

The experiment revealed that looking at a higher number of options directly increased the feeling of being overwhelmed. Participants who looked at 91 profiles reported a heavier mental burden than those who viewed fewer profiles. Evaluating more options also resulted in lower overall acceptance rates. Participants became much pickier as the abundance of choices grew, accepting a smaller percentage of the people they saw.

Contrary to the tyranny of choice theory, the sheer volume of profiles did not negatively impact self-esteem or the participants’ fears regarding their relationship status. Instead, the specific way participants made their decisions produced the psychological shifts. The results showed that swiping intuitively based on gut feelings directly led to a drop in self-esteem.

Participants who followed the quick, action-oriented strategy reported lower self-esteem than those who swiped naturally without instructions, as well as those who used specific criteria to evaluate profiles. The intuitive group also rated their own personal value as a mate lower than the other groups did. The research team noted this was an unexpected outcome, as previous theories suggested that highly critical, criteria-based decision-making typically caused more stress and self-doubt in consumer settings.

The authors suspect that making intuitive choices places the entire burden of the decision on the user’s internal feelings rather than observable facts. Because romantic preferences are difficult to perfectly define, relying solely on unexplainable gut instincts might make users feel uneasy. As a result, they might misdirect that unease inward, causing them to doubt their own self-worth. By contrast, relying on concrete traits provides an external buffer that protects the ego from the weight of the decision.

Another possible explanation involves cognitive friction regarding the format of the dating app. A static dating profile primarily displays unmoving photos and brief text, which naturally lends itself to critical evaluation. Pushing users to react quickly and intuitively to static photos might create a mismatch between the task and the mental mode. Users might misinterpret this subtle mental mismatch as a personal inadequacy.

The chosen swiping strategy also influenced when participants started to feel mentally overloaded. For people using strict criteria or swiping naturally, looking at 31 profiles felt about as manageable as looking at 11 profiles. For those swiping based on gut instincts, the feeling of being overwhelmed spiked much earlier, hitting just as hard at 31 profiles as it did when evaluating 91 profiles.

While the experiment provides a detailed window into dating app use, the study has practical limitations depending on its simulated nature. The decisions made during the experiment carried no actual social consequences, meaning participants knew they would not go on real dates with the people they evaluated. In a functioning dating app, users might put varying levels of effort into their choices because real rejections or connections are at stake.

The study also relied on a sample composed largely of young college students evaluating portraits tailored specifically to their demographic. The authors noted that college students often work in environments that reward critical assessment, which might have made the intuitive swiping task feel unusually foreign. Future research should involve more diverse populations encompassing different age groups and educational backgrounds.

Future investigations could also track actual dating app behaviors over time to see how self-reported decision styles hold up outside a laboratory environment. Implementing technology like eye-tracking software could help researchers observe what kind of profile information users focus on naturally. This approach would allow scientists to study natural swiping mechanisms accurately without relying on explicit behavioral instructions.

The study, “Decision-Making on Dating Apps: Is Swiping More Less and Swiping Right Wrong?,” was authored by Marina F. Thomas, Alice Binder, and Jörg Matthes.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/why-swiping-by-gut-feeling-on-dating-apps-might-lower-your-self-esteem/

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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #DatingApps #SwipeRight #SelfEsteem #TyrannyOfChoice #IntuitiveSwipe #DecisionMaking #RomanticRelationships #ProfileEvaluation #PsychologyOfDating #DatingAppTips

Sometimes decision making is affected by our personalities, our life circumstances and the 'noise" that we have to navigate to make a choice.

https://psychebubbles-anwesha.blogspot.com/2026/04/decision-making-using-signal-detection.html
#decision #decisionmaking #psychology #theories #choices #personality #noise

How do frontal #brain regions guide #DecisionMaking in the context of perceptual & non-perceptual factors? A study in ferrets reveals that activity in the brain's #PremotorCortex tracks the perceived stimulus, not the one reported by behavior @PLOSBiology https://plos.io/4tv13IZ

“ 'Sense and Sensibility and Science' was started 13 years ago by a team of University of California Berkeley professors who wanted to give students the tools to combat misinformation and improve their #communication skills in an increasingly confusing world. They did not expect the class to become so popular":
https://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/uc-berkeley-class-saul-perlmutter-22237250.php
"It’s a course, say the professors who run it, with the ultimate goal of bettering the world."
#NewsYouCanUse #DecisionMaking #education

The loudest answers often come from the quietest places. #Leadership #Truth #Mindset #Growth #DecisionMaking #Business #Innovation #Wellbeing #SelfAwareness #HumanNature #Wisdom #ProfessionalGrowth #CriticalThinking #PersonalGrowth #Reflection
https://stayingalive.in/thought-of-the-day/nature-never-lies.html

The loudest answers often come from the quietest places. #Leadership #Truth #Mindset #Growth #DecisionMaking #Business #Innovation #Wellbeing #SelfAwareness #HumanNature #Wisdom #ProfessionalGrowth #CriticalThinking #PersonalGrowth #Reflection
https://stayingalive.in/thought-of-the-day/nature-never-lies.html

DATE: May 12, 2026 at 05:02AM
SOURCE:
NEW YORK TIMES PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGISTS FEED

TITLE: Your Decision Making Is All Wrong

URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/opinion/decision-making-herbert-simon.html

Why searching for the best is the wrong goal.

URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/opinion/decision-making-herbert-simon.html

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NYU Information for Practice puts out 400-500 good quality health-related research posts per week but its too much for many people, so that bot is limited to just subscribers. You can read it or subscribe at @PsychResearchBot

Since 1991 The National Psychologist has focused on keeping practicing psychologists current with news, information and items of interest. Check them out for more free articles, resources, and subscription information: https://www.nationalpsychologist.com

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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #DecisionMaking #WrongGoal #BestIsNotBetter #ChooseWisely #MindsetShift #DecisionMakingProcess #BetterChoices #SelfImprovement #CriticalThinking #PsychologyOfChoice

Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen "Problems in our lives and in society are we tolerating simply because we've forgotten that we can fix them" Sale: $32 to $2.99 by Dan Heath Rating: 4.6/5 (2,047 Reviews) #business #decisionmaking #books #leadership #booksky #prevention

Upstream: The Quest to Solve P...

Most IT failures start before execution. The real problem is weak decision-making. #Leadership #CIO #DigitalTransformation #DecisionMaking #ExecutiveLeadership
https://stayingalive.in/cataloguing-strategic-innov/most-it-decisions-fail-2.html

Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka has turned down the EU reform plans put forward by his German colleague, Johann Wadephul (CDU). Expressing his skepticism re... https://news.osna.fm/?p=45280 | #news #calls #czech #decisionmaking #eu

Under pressure, most IT decisions weaken. This framework restores clarity where it matters. #Leadership #CIO #DigitalTransformation #Strategy #DecisionMaking
https://stayingalive.in/cataloguing-strategic-innov/when-the-pressure-mounts.html

✮ The Person I Could Become ✮

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♟️ “Strategy wins over impulse.”

#Markets #Investing #StoneCapitalGrowth #Strategy #DecisionMaking #SocialMedia

AI makes things quicker and easier, but there’s a downside. When everything feels smooth, we don’t pause to think as much. We start to lean on automation and algorithms instead of using our own judgment. In everyday tasks from drafting emails to screening candidates or reviewing reports, that automation bias can let mistakes slip by. So even if we move faster, it doesn’t always mean we’re making wiser choices. #AI #Automation #DecisionMaking #Productivity #Ethics

🤡 Ah, yes, the riveting saga of the agent harness—where to put it? 🤔 In the #sandbox or not? 🌪️ Spoiler: it depends on whether you’re a lone engineer or part of an army. 🙄 Because clearly, this life-altering decision needs a 7-minute read. 🚀
https://www.mendral.com/blog/agent-harness-belongs-outside-sandbox #agentharness #decisionmaking #engineering #community #lifealtering #7minread #HackerNews #ngated

Zugzwang

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zugzwang

#HackerNews #Zugzwang #Chess #Strategy #Game #Theory #Tactics #DecisionMaking

Master Index

A guided map across physics, biology, engineering, and AI—built around a simple idea

Persistence is not generated, but permitted.

Systems don’t fail because they “break.”

They fail because their boundaries were misclassified.

Core structure
state → constraint → resolution → persistence

From: - Titanic / Vasa / Challenger
– biological regulation
– AI hallucination & drift
– institutional collapse

Same pattern
only admissible states persist

This is the interface.
Start anywhere. Follow the path that fits.

#HybridMind42 #BoundaryDynamics #BoundaryArchitecture #BFPF #HQP
#Admissibility #ConstraintResolution #StateTransition #Persistence
#ComplexSystems #SystemsThinking #StructuralAnalysis #FailureAnalysis
#Physics #QuantumMechanics #Relativity #Lindblad #CPTP #Decoherence
#Biology #Physiology #Adaptation #Homeostasis
#ArtificialIntelligence #AI #LLM #AIAlignment #AIGovernance
#InstitutionalFailure #DecisionMaking
#Emergence #ScientificClarity

https://substack.com/@hybridmind42/note/c-252017333?r=75c2ac

Strategic Analysis Playbook | Kamyar Shah https://kamyarshah.com/strategic-analysis-playbook/ #StrategicAnalysis #BusinessStrategy #OperationalExcellence #FractionalCOO #DecisionMaking

The Step You Keep Almost Taking

https://journalingwrite.wordpress.com/2026/04/30/the-step-you-keep-almost-taking/

Why Companies Benefit from Recognizing Failure Early and Redirecting Resources

📰 Original title: Perseverance doesn't always pay off for companies – sometimes it's better to 'fail fast'

🤖 IA: It's not clickbait ✅
👥 Usuarios: It's not clickbait ✅

View full AI summary: https://killbait.com/en/why-companies-benefit-from-recognizing-failure-early-and-redirecting-resources/?redirpost=c659a5b9-d347-4757-b27d-9af8b267f655

#business #failfast #businessstrategy #decisionmaking

Alright, future engineers!
**Type I Error (alpha):** Rejecting a true null hypothesis (a false positive).
Ex: Concluding a new material is unsafe when it actually meets specs.
Pro-Tip: Balancing Type I (alpha) and Type II (beta) errors is crucial in your design & testing decisions!
#HypothesisTesting #DecisionMaking #STEM #StudyNotes

Francis remains troublingly himself — a married father of a small child, reluctant to leave his family, however much he is in love with Clara: “He did love her, and he did want to be with her. … But he already had reality elsewhere, reality which he sometimes felt trapped by, he would admit, but which he could not truly imagine cutting loose.”
#adultery #relationships #lust #sin #morals #ethics #marriage #bookreview #fiction #culture #modernity #decisionmaking
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/books/review/permanence-sophie-mackintosh.html

AI is very good at producing outputs that feel finished. No red flags. No clear failure. Just plausible results that quietly lock in assumptions nobody named.

The system works — until the cost shows up all at once.

https://open.substack.com/pub/sargentjamesa/p/ai-makes-bad-decisions-look-reasonable?r=7o0dk0&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

#Leadership #AI #DecisionMaking #SystemsThinking

How To Study Coastal Evolution
Researchers reviewed what’s known about how coastlines are changing and made recommendations for how to learn more
--
https://eos.org/research-spotlights/how-to-study-coastal-evolution <-- shared technical article
--
https://doi.org/10.1029/2024EF005833 <-- shared paper
--
#coast #coastal #coastline #change #prediction #spatiotemporal #spatialanalysis #USA #extremeweather #storm #stormsurge #sealevel #sealevelrise #SLR #risk #hazard #mitigation #shorelines #habitat #ecosystem #inlets #flood #flooding #wetlands #processes #ecosystems #community #planning #policy #coordinated #framework #management #decisionmaking #overview #naturalprocesses #innundation #damage #infrastructure #landforms #CoastalScience #ClimateChange #SeaLevelRise #EarthsFuture #AGU #CoastalResilience
@USGS @NOAA @NOAA Centers for Coastal Ocean Science