Book contents
- Making Decisions: Analytics, Cognition, and Application
- Making Decisions: Analytics, Cognition, and Application
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Copyright Acknowledgements
- Part I Analytics: Probability, Evaluation, Decision Trees, and Strategies for Decision Making
- Introduction to Part II: Cognitive Processes of Decision Making
- Part III Applications, Examples, and Selected Topics
- 10 Signal Detection Theory: How to Detect the Important Signal against the Distracting Background and Take Action as Appropriate Based on the Signal
- 11 Game Theory as Applied to Real-World Decisions
- 12 Decision Making under Stress: Staying Ahead of Rapidly Changing Events and Making Difficult, Time-Critical Decisions
- 13 Decision Making Involving Disputes, Negotiation, and Conflict
- 14 Multi-attribute Utility Decisions: Making Complex and Multidimensional Decisions
- 15 Common Decision Traps and How to Avoid Them
- 16 Overcoming Indecisiveness by Understanding What Causes It
- 17 Looking Back and Looking Ahead: What about Emotion, Culture, Artificial Intelligence, and Intuition?
- References
- Index
- References
14 - Multi-attribute Utility Decisions: Making Complex and Multidimensional Decisions
from Part III - Applications, Examples, and Selected Topics
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 October 2025
Book contents
- Making Decisions: Analytics, Cognition, and Application
- Making Decisions: Analytics, Cognition, and Application
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Copyright Acknowledgements
- Part I Analytics: Probability, Evaluation, Decision Trees, and Strategies for Decision Making
- Introduction to Part II: Cognitive Processes of Decision Making
- Part III Applications, Examples, and Selected Topics
- 10 Signal Detection Theory: How to Detect the Important Signal against the Distracting Background and Take Action as Appropriate Based on the Signal
- 11 Game Theory as Applied to Real-World Decisions
- 12 Decision Making under Stress: Staying Ahead of Rapidly Changing Events and Making Difficult, Time-Critical Decisions
- 13 Decision Making Involving Disputes, Negotiation, and Conflict
- 14 Multi-attribute Utility Decisions: Making Complex and Multidimensional Decisions
- 15 Common Decision Traps and How to Avoid Them
- 16 Overcoming Indecisiveness by Understanding What Causes It
- 17 Looking Back and Looking Ahead: What about Emotion, Culture, Artificial Intelligence, and Intuition?
- References
- Index
- References
Summary
We often make decisions that are based on multiple attributes that cannot be measured on objective scales. Life often includes tradeoffs. Which job should you take? Which apartment should you rent? Whom should you marry? Life is filled with options and decisions that include many different factors – happiness, money, comfort, health, future opportunities, time demands, etc. How can people make decisions that require the comparison and weighing of these and other attributes? Previous chapters covering probability, decisions trees, and decision strategies, discussed prescriptive models used to determine optimal solutions when decisions were made based on a single attribute. This chapter outlines the concept and structure of multi-attribute decisions. In some cases, multi-attribute decisions can include compensatory strategies, where tradeoffs can be considered, but in other cases, only noncompensatory strategies are possible. Norm referencing and criterion referencing are discussed. Charles Darwin’s decision to marry or not will be one example of a multi-attribute utility decision.
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- Making Decisions: Analytics, Cognition, and Application , pp. 202 - 212Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
References
Recommended Reading
Tversky, A. (1972). Elimination by aspects: A theory of choice. Psychological Review, 79(4), 281–299. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0032955.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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