Inquiry Method, Goal Difficulty, and Context Effects on Performance

Abstract The decision‐making in this study compares the performance of the dialectical inquiry (DI) and the devil's advocate (DA) techniques. In addition, the task was structured to include three levels of goal difficulty and three decision‐making contexts. Over all contexts, there were no significant differences between the DI and DA methods. When the DI technique was employed, however, the context of the decision appeared to be an important factor. The goal‐difficulty factor was associated with significant effects on decision quality only when individuals were divided according to their perceptions of goal relevancy and meaning. Finally, the order in which the contexts were considered was important.