The Effect of Rational and Intuitive Decision

Career counseling requires clients to make assessments and predictions of their interests, necessitating the use of both rational and intuitive processes. Dual-processing models of human decision-making have not been experimentally explored within the context of vocational assessment. One-hundred thirty-six participants chose among eight occupational/educational videos after an unconscious-intuitive, conscious-rational, or decision-as-usual information processing manipulation. Participant interest was assessed before, during, and 2 weeks following the video in order to determine differences across conditions. The results yielded three conclusions. First, the unconscious-intuitive manipulation resulted in interest forecasts that were more predictive of actual interest than did the conscious-rational manipulation or the decision-as-usual conditions. Second, interest levels were recalled more accurately by participants who made choices under unconscious-intuitive conditions than by those in the other two conditions. Finally, a history of occupational engagement was found to be related to decisional quality but only for the control group. These results are discussed in the context of vocational theory