Think different: the merits of unconscious thought in preference development and decision making.
The role of unconscious and conscious thought in decision making was investigated in 5 experiments. Because of the low processing capacity of consciousness, conscious thought was hypothesized to be maladaptive when making complex decisions. Conversely, unconscious thought was expected to be highly effective. In Experiments 1-3, participants were presented with a complex decision problem in which they had to choose between various alternatives, each with multiple attributes. Some participants had to make a decision immediately after being presented with the options. In the conscious thought condition, participants could think about the decision for a few minutes. In the unconscious thought condition, participants were distracted for a few minutes and then indicated their decision. Throughout the experiments, unconscious thinkers made the best decisions. Additional evidence obtained in Experiments 4 and 5 suggests that unconscious thought leads to clearer, more polarized, and more integrated representations in memory.
Dijksterhuis
Ap
A
Social Psychology Program, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands. a.j.dijksterhuis@uva.nl
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001290:Attitude; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D003243:Consciousness / Q000502:physiology; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D013850:Thinking / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014473:Unconscious, Psychology