The surprising relationship between indecisiveness and impulsivity

a r t i c l e i n f o We explore the relationship between indecisiveness and impulsivity using a variety of individual difference measures for each construct. We observe a positive, rather than negative, correlation between traditional measures of indecisiveness and impulsivity. Further analysis demonstrates that standard measures of indecisiveness are positively correlated specifically with dysfunctional impulsivity, and negatively correlated with functional impulsiv-ity. Moreover, indecisiveness is positively and strongly associated specifically with impulsive urgency and lack of perseverance, but not with impulsive sensation-seeking or a lack of premeditation. Finally, we find that particular forms of indecisiveness, including maximizing due to 'high standards' and various 'perfectionistic' behaviors, do correlate negatively with standard measures of impulsivity. These findings provide insight into the multi-dimensional nature of both indecisiveness and impulsivity, and suggest divergent underlying mechanisms producing different forms of indecisive and impulsive behavior. The capacity to make decisions quickly, confidently, and competently is important for personal and professional well-being. However, empirical research investigating (in)decisiveness and its relationship with other traits is relatively sparse. Indecisiveness has been defined as habitual difficulty making decisions across domains (Germeijs, Verschueren, & Soenens, 2006) and has been associated with hesitating to act (Frost & Shows, 1993). For the purposes of this paper, we focus on observable behaviors and define indecisiveness as frequent inability to make decisions confidently, quickly, and/or efficiently. Indecisiveness and decisiveness have typically been measured through unidimensional self-report scales focusing on general decision-making tendencies Theoretical discussions suggest that indecisiveness and decisiveness are opposing traits (Van Matre & Cooper, 1984), rather than independent ones, and factor analyses on existing indecisiveness scales have identified factors containing both reverse-scored and regular items (e., suggesting that decisive-ness and indecisiveness scales measure the same trait. Decision-making behaviors that prolong the decision process, such as buck-passing, procrastination and maximizing, have also been measured by self-report and are likely related to trait indecisiveness. Theoretical explorations of indecisiveness remain limited. Trait inde-cisiveness has been related to high anxiety, low self-confidence and identify several behavioral components of indecisiveness that are supported by experimental research. They cite evidence that indecisive individuals take longer to make decisions in a consumer choice task (Frost & Shows, 1993), and seek out more information before making a choice (Rassin et al., 2007) or focus their information search narrowly on the ultimately chosen option rather than on all possible options (Ferrari & Dovidio, 2001; Rassin et al., 2008). In …