COPING WITH THE STRESS OF MAKING DECISIONS: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF THE ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF DECISION-MAKING

Although situations requiring decision making can be stressful, decisions have rarely been investigated using a stress and coping perspective. The present study utilized causal modeling techniques to examine hypotheses about stress and coping in the context of a significant, naturally occurring decision faced by undergraduates at Yale University. A longitudinal design was utilized to assess the antecedents and immediate, short-term, and long-term consequences of vigilance and defensive avoidance, two major categories of decision-making coping strategies. Alternative causal models were tested and compared.;The ways in which the decision was appraised affected coping responses and immediate and short-term consequences, but not long-term consequences. Lack of perceived control predicted defensive avoidance while perceived consequentiality (or seriousness) of the decision predicted vigilance. Both appraisal variables predicted higher levels of anxiety during the course of making the decision. Lack of perceived control also predicted less favorable short-term anticipations about the decisional outcome and lower levels of short-term post-decisional satisfaction. In addition, the role of trait anxiety in predicting coping and distress was examined. The implications of the results for both theories of stress and coping and theories of decision making were discussed.;Vigilance (a problem-solving approach to a stressful situation) predicted significantly better post-decisional consequences than defensive avoidance (a defensive, emotion-focused approach). Vigilance led to a higher quality post-decisional outcome and higher levels of post-decisional satisfaction. Defensive avoidance, on the other hand, led to a lower quality post-decisional outcome, lower levels of post-decisional satisfaction, and higher levels of post-decisional anxiety. Vigilance, however, had costs in the pre-decisional period that defensive avoidance did not have, as vigilance predicted higher levels of anxiety during the course of making the decision.