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Intuitive Decision Style Scale

When making big decisions, are you more likely to trust your head or your gut? Here's a scientific way to know.

Mark Travers, Ph.D.

By Mark Travers, Ph.D.

December 21, 2023

Mark Travers, Ph.D., is the lead psychologist at Awake Therapy, responsible for new client intake and placement. Mark received his B.A. in psychology, magna cum laude, from Cornell University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Colorado Boulder. His academic research has been published in leading psychology journals and has been featured in The New York Times and The New Yorker, among other popular publications. He is a regular contributor for Forbes and Psychology Today, where he writes about psycho-educational topics such as happiness, relationships, personality, and life meaning. Click here to schedule an initial consultation with Mark or another member of the Awake Therapy team. Or, you can drop him a note here.

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The Intuitive Decision Style Scale, developed by Katherine Hamilton, Shin-I Shih, and Susan Mohammed of Pennsylvania State University, is a self-assessment tool designed to illuminate and measure the degree to which individuals rely on their intuition when navigating the decision-making process.

The scale consists of a set of statements, each prompting respondents to indicate the extent to which it resonates with their decision-making approach on a scale from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree).

By capturing key aspects of intuitive decision-making, such as trusting gut feelings, following initial hunches, and prioritizing intuition over analysis, the scale provides a glimpse into an individual's inherent decision style. Whether one leans towards analytical scrutiny or intuitive leaps, this scale offers a valuable self-reflection tool for those seeking insight into their decision-making tendencies.

You can take this test here. Follow all of the steps to receive your results.

References: Katherine Hamilton, Shin-I Shih & Susan Mohammed (2016) The Development and Validation of the Rational and Intuitive Decision Styles Scale, Journal of Personality Assessment, 98:5, 523-535

Step 1: Rate the following statements based on how much you agree with them on a scale of strongly disagree to strongly agree.

1. When making decisions, I rely mainly on my gut feelings.

2. My initial hunch about decisions is generally what I follow.

3. I make decisions based on intuition.

4. I rely on my first impressions when making decisions.

5. I weigh feelings more than analysis in making decisions.

0 of 0 questions answered

Step 2: Enter your age, gender, region, and first name so we can provide you with a detailed report that compares your test scores with people similar to you.

What is your age?

What is your gender?

What region of the world do you live in?

What is your first name?

Step 3: Check to make sure you've provided answers to all of the statements/questions above. Once you've done that, click the button below to send your responses to Awake Therapy's Lead Psychologist, Mark Travers, Ph.D. He will provide you with an overview of how you scored relative to others (all answers are anonymized and confidential to protect users' privacy). He can also answer any follow-up questions you may have.