Abstract
The purpose of this study is, first, to examine the pattern of inner states in the decision making process and second, to examine the relationship between the inner states and information search strategies in the decision making process. A method of monitoring information acquisition was used to directly trace the information search strategies. Subjects simulated the search process in which they selected a behavior from available behavioral alternatives which were expected to occur in a situation where donating behavior was needed. After the decision they rated their inner states on five point scales. Major findings obtained are as follows:
(1) The data from the domain of the inner states were subjected to factor analysis, and three rotated factors interpreted as conflict, risk and confidence were extracted.
(2) The data from the domains of the information search strategies and the inner states were interrelated using canonical correlation analysis and two rotated canonical variates interpreted as simplifying and optimizing in the decision making process were extracted. The simplifying variate indicated that strategies designed to eliminate some of the available behavioral alternatives on the basis of only a few attributes were related to reduction of conflict. The optimizing vaiate indicated that strategies focused on only a few behavioral alternatives and on search process for each alternative were related to confidence in decision making. In addition, the analysis revealed that the pattern of relationships between the information search strategies and the inner states changed according to the stages of decision making process.
