BACKGROUND: Although decision-making styles (DMSs) are fundamentally complex, multidimensional, and contextual phenomena, they are systematically filtered through individuals' cognitive and emotional antecedents. In the high-stakes and analytical environment of legal education, identifying these structural predictors is critical to mitigating maladaptive judgment patterns. While existing literature globally links Cognitive Flexibility (CF) and Emotional Intelligence (EI) to adaptive reasoning, there remains a significant empirical gap regarding how the sub-dimensions of CF (alternatives, control) and EI concurrently shape the functional (attentive) and dysfunctional (procrastinating, panic, avoidant) DMS dimensions specifically among law school students. METHOD: The prediction design research model is used to detect the predictors of the dependent variable. The study group consists of 432 law students. Data were collected using four distinct instruments: a Personal Information Form, the Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire, the CF Inventory, and the Schutte EI Scale. RESULTS: According to the results of the research, it was found that the alternatives sub-dimension was a significant predictor of attentive, procrastinating and panic DMSs. It was found that the CF control sub-dimension was a significant predictor of procrastinating, avoidant and panic DMSs. While EI is a significant predictor of procrastinating and avoidant DMSs. CONCLUSION: According to the findings of the study, it seems that CF and EI may be effective on the DMSs of law school students. In conclusion, enhancing CF and EI may help law students make more rational and balanced decisions. However, the findings are dependent on specific institutional and socio-cultural parameters of Turkish higher education, which is characterized by atypical demographic profiles, and should be interpreted with caution due to the male-female sample imbalance (2:1).
Sarıhan et al. (Wed,) studied this question.