The role of time orientation in decision-making under time pressure

This study examined the role of time orientation on decision-making under time pressure. Time orientation, an individual difference in the attention to time and the perception that time is a scarce resource, was hypothesized to be associated with individuals' perceptions of the decision tasks and the information search behaviors they conducted (e.g., amount of information considered and amount of time spent on decisions) during time-pressured decision tasks. Results indicated that time orientation was modestly associated with thoughts about time, perceived time pressure and stress, but contrary to expectations, was not negatively correlated with task enjoyment. Further, results suggested that at low and moderate levels of time pressure, higher time-oriented individuals conduct more similar searches than lower time-oriented individuals. Perceptions and search behaviors were also examined for trait anxiety and the Type A behavior pattern. Results indicated that these individual differences were also associated with perceptions of time pressure and stress, and that the trends for Type A individuals were similar to those for higher time-oriented individuals. Implications of these results are discussed and suggestions for future research are presented.