The Making of a Good Decision-Maker

Good decision-makers may be made, not born, says a Carnegie Mellon University and RAND Corp. study. People who do well on a series of decision-making tasks involving hypothetical situations tend to have more positive decision outcomes in their lives, according to decision scientists. The results suggest that it may be possible to improve the quality of people's lives by teaching them better decision-making skills. The study also shows that, although decision-making competence is correlated with verbal and nonverbal intelligence, it is still a separate skill. "Intelligence doesn’t explain everything. Our results suggest that people with good decision-making skills obtain better real-life outcomes, even after controlling for cognitive ability, socio-economic status and other factors," said Wandi Bruine de Bruin of Carnegie Mellon, the lead author of the study. "That is good news, because decision-making skills may be taught."

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