Abstract
The human psyche is equipped with the capacity to solve problems using different mental states or mindsets. Different mindsets can lead to different judgment and decision making styles, each associated with its own perspective and biases. To change perspective, people can, and often do, switch mindsets. We argue, however, that mindset switching can be costly for subsequent decisions. We propose that mindset switching is an executive function that relies on the same psychological resource that governs other acts of executive functioning, including self-regulation. This implies that there are psychic costs to switching mindsets that are borne out in depleted executive resources. One implication of this framework is that switching mindsets should render people more likely to fail at subsequent self-regulation than they would if maintaining a consistent mindset. The findings from experiments that manipulated mindset switching in five domains support this model.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 13-24 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes |
Volume | 115 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 2011 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We thank Jannine Lasaleta, Steven Oravecz, Andrew Kaikati, and Alison Boyce for their data collection assistance. This research was supported in part by University of Minnesota McKnight Land-Grant and Presidential Professorship funds.
Keywords
- Executive functioning
- Judgment and decision making
- Mindsets
- Resource depletion
- Self-control
- Self-regulation