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The decision making capability of college students has likely been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Researchers from Ohio State University found that students had less consistent decision making in the fall semester of 2020 compared with students who had participated in the study in previous years. 

“Overall, we found that decision making was less consistent and relied more on how a question was worded during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to before the pandemic. When we followed-up with the students who took the study during the pandemic and had them complete the task a second time, several weeks later, there was no change—for better or for worse—in their decision making,” Melissa Beulow, PhD, lead author of the study and a professor of psychology at The Ohio State University told Theravive. 

“This study was based on our own lived experiences during the early days of the pandemic. As we were describing our own difficulties staying focused on tasks, we wondered if other people were experiencing the same thing. Being able to think clearly and stay focused is important to decision making, as previous studies have shown that multitasking can lead to riskier decisions in lab-based studies. We wanted to further assess whether a global stressor, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, was sufficient enough to decrease decision making on tasks.” 

In undertaking their study, the researchers utilised the Adult Decision Making Competence (ADMC) scale. This presents users with scenarios that are framed in both a positive and negative way. Users are then asked to respond with their ideal solution or recommendation.

The researchers compared the data from 722 undergraduate students who were assessed using the scale pre pandemic with 161 students who were assessed during the fall semester of 2020.   

They found that the students who were assessed in 2020 were more likely to cycle between either making decisions with their gut and thinking more deeply about the answer depending on how the hypothetical scenario was presented to them. 

The ethics based scenarios given to the students resulted in the same outcome regardless of whether they were presented in a positive or negative light, yet the students were more likely to respond differently based on how the scenario was presented to them. 

Later during the spring semester of 2022, the researchers assessed a further 72 students. They found that at that time students were still making decisions that were less consistent compared with the participants who were assessed prior to the pandemic. 

“The dual process theory of decision making suggests that we can use two different systems to make a decision. System 1 decision making is fast and often relies on gut feelings and emotions. System 2 decision making is slower, more deliberative, and more thought out, but it requires more attention and other cognitive resources. Although sometimes those quick decisions may be the ‘best’ decisions, many other times they are more impulsive and dependent on situational factors. Our findings fit in with this theory, as how a question/option is worded (for example, in terms of something to be gained versus something to be lost) had more of an effect on decision making among those students who took the study during the pandemic compared to before the pandemic,” Beulow said. 

“Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, young adults were at greater risk than middle and older adults of making risky decisions in their lives. Our study suggests that the pandemic may have further strained risk-based decision making among young adults. The participants in our study were living through a significant global stressor while simultaneously attending to educational, family, work, and other needs. It is possible that as one source of stress ‘lifts,’ such as the COVID-19 pandemic, decision making may begin to return to pre-pandemic levels. We are currently assessing decision making among additional cohorts of college students in order to see if decision making continues to decline, levels out, or begins to return to pre-pandemic levels.” 

She argues that given the findings of the study, students may require additional support when making decisions about their academic careers.

“Global factors may be depleting students’ cognitive resources, leaving them at risk of making more impulsive or emotion-based decisions that could be focused on short-term instead of long-term outcomes. It is possible students may need more guidance when making large decisions such as what to major in, whether to engage in high impact educational practices, or whether to increase work hours during the academic semester. Modeling System 2 decision making, such as by listing pros and cons of different decisions, could help students shift to that more deliberative process.”