User:Stacey Nipper/sandbox

Indecision
Indecision is a term related to motivation and reaching conclusions. More specifically, it can involve an inability to formulate an opinion, determine a course of action, come to an agreement, or reach a decision. Indecision is characterized by exhibiting hesitation, uncertainty, or reluctance to make a choice.

Etymology Indecision originated in 1763 from the French word indécision (c.1600). It is defined as the following: in- "not, opposite of, without".

Relationship between emotions and judgment Current studies indicate that discrete emotions have varying degrees of impact on judgment and decision-making outcomes. By definition, discrete emotions are focused, short-lived, and intense which distinguishes them from affect in that they are specific feeling states. Therefore, as various emotions are experienced, an individual's judgment will be affected accordingly.

As an example of this phenomenon, guilt has been shown to decrease indecision due to its motivating properties. Because there is a need to reconcile, guilt is now known to provide focus in decision-making processes. If an individual experiences guilt, they are more likely to make a quicker decision about the situation at hand.

The broad topic of positive affect has been considered in the subject matter as well. A review on previously completed research indicates that positive affect enhances decision-making as well. With that in mind, it can be used to manipulate employee and consumer satisfaction. Furthermore, healthcare professionals could benefit from positive affect because it enables doctors to make faster, more informed choices when it comes to medical decisions.

Considering this information, it has become apparent that affect may be just as important to decision-making as deliberate, analytical-based choices. This contradicts much past research, and affect is now shown to increase the quality of complex decisions in many situations.

Gender differences Rassin and Muris conducted a study in which they evaluated indecisiveness between genders. Women were found to exhibit more indecisive behaviors than men which is commonly held stereotype about women.

In reference to the self-report measures utilized in their study, answers resulting in “do not know” indicate that indecision not only leads to more time consumption, but it may result in a failure to determine a choice at all. During the course of examining the results, indecision was also found to be linked to obsessive-compulsive disorder especially with habits involving checking and rumination.

Links to creativity  Although indecision is generally referred to as a negative occurrence, findings suggest that coupled with rumination, it can actually enhance creative processes. While some forms of rumination are linked to depression, others are beneficial because persistent reflection aids the development of innovative ideas.

Although the above mentioned study found that indecision itself does not enhance creativity, it does enhance creativity when paired with reflective rumination. Therefore, high levels of indecision indirectly affect the creative process.

Only a specific type of rumination produced creativity, and this was reflective rumination. This is due to the fact that maladaptive forms of rumination do not aid in the creative process discounting earlier beliefs. Findings supported the idea that the creative process will not be benefited if an individual does not use the time that indecision allows to consciously reflect.