Roles of Uncertainty Avoidance and Long-Versus Short-Term Orientation On Decision Making Styles: A Sample From Germany

This study explores the influence of cultural dimensions, specifically uncertainty avoidance and long- versus short-term orientation, on intuitive decision-making styles within a German sample. By integrating theories from cross-cultural psychology and decision-making research, we investigate how these cultural values impact rational, holistic, inferential, and emotional decision-making styles. Data were collected from 491 German participants through a comprehensive survey assessing their cultural values and decision-making preferences. Our findings indicate that high uncertainty avoidance negatively influences the preference for holistic and emotional decision-making. Additionally, long-term orientation is positively related to analytic decision-making, whereas short-term orientation is associated with emotional and inferential decision-making. These results underscore the importance of cultural context in shaping decision-making styles and offer insights for enhancing decision-making efficacy in multicultural environments. Implications for organizational practices and future research directions are discussed.