Decision‐making styles and mental health—A person‐oriented approach through clustering

Previous research examining the associations between decision‐making styles and mental health has neglected to look at the configurations of styles. The study identifies mutually exclusive groups of people according to their combination of the five decision‐making styles and examines the differences between them in mental health‐related variables in two studies. In Study 1, decision‐making styles, mental health indicators (well‐being, depression, stress) and socio‐psychological protective factors (resilience, optimism, social support) were examined in university students in two rounds 1 year apart. A cluster analysis revealed three distinct decision profiles—independent/nonintuitive, avoidant/spontaneous and rational/nonavoidant. The best values of mental health‐related variables were found in the rational/nonavoidant profile and the most negative values in the avoidant/spontaneous profile. The decision‐making styles were stable after 1 year although they were not able to explain changes in mental health‐related variables. Study 2 identified three similar clusters in a more general sample—spontaneous/irrational, dependent/avoidant and rational/nonavoidant—with the lowest level of psychological distress symptoms in the rational/nonavoidant cluster. The study highlights the usefulness of combinations of decision‐making styles with regard to mental health as well as noting their specificity according to sample characteristics.