Citation

Wu S, Yu R. Int. J. Psychol. 2018; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, International Union of Psychological Science, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/ijop.12516

PMID

30010188

Abstract

Individuals often need to make critical decisions even when they are in a fatigued state. Mental fatigue may lead to increased susceptibility to distraction and poor information processing but it is unclear exactly how fatigue shapes individuals' decision-making. We studied how mental fatigue influences sensitivity to contextual information, indexed as decoy bias. Mental fatigue was induced using a multi-source interference task, and decoy bias was assessed using a gambling task, in 124 young adults.

RESULTS showed that mental fatigue increased decoy bias through enhanced perceptual salience of contextual cues, but only in males. The findings provide insight into a gender-specific relationship between fatigue and poor judgments. This study extends the current literature on links between fatigue and poor decision-making by documenting a possible mechanism of the association. The results may have practical implications for designing optimal working hours and safeguarding people from suboptimal decisions.

© 2018 International Union of Psychological Science.

Language: en

Keywords

Contextual cues; Decision-making; Decoy bias; Gender; Mental fatigue