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1.To determine influences
on decisions
2.To analyze the steps of
the decision-making
process
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To make a DECISION
• means to arrive at a solution
that ends uncertainty or a
dispute
• means to select a course of
action
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• means to make a choice
between two or more
alternatives
Factors influencing decision making:
• Values
• Priorities
• Environment
• Peers
• Role Models
• Family
• Self-image
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1. Impulse – Go with first reaction
2. Escape – Avoid a decision or make
up an answer to deflect an
injury
3. Procrastination – Delay until someone else
makes the decision or until the
option disappears; actually
deciding by default to do
something
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4. Compliance – Let someone else decide;
handing over control of
your life
5. Agony – Consider every detail of
every option over and over
again
6. Play It Safe – Always choose the
alternative with the lowest
level of risk
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1. Stagnation
2. Fear of failure
3. Fear of success
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1. Define the problem
2. List all possible alternatives and
consequences of each choice
3. Select the best choice – depending
on your values and priorities
4. Act on your decision
5. Evaluate your decision – determine if
goal or decision was met
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1. Avoid impulse decisions
2. Do not procrastinate
3. Seek help when needed
4. Consider potential results of decision
5. Accept responsibility for decisions
6. List alternative decisions before deciding
7. Make a plan to guide you to a satisfying
decision
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Making a major decision usually causes anxiety.
Risk is often involved and the potential to lose
something in the process. However, as one goes
through life, it is necessary to lose something in
order to grow. A lobster must shed its shell to grow a
new and larger shell. In the interim, the lobster is at
greater risk from predators, but the shell must be
replaced with a larger one if the lobster is to grow.
As you make career and life decisions, be prepared
to lose something in order to grow.
Excerpt from, Training For Life: A Practical Guide to Career and Life Planning by Fred J. Hecklinger and Bernadette M. Black
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Many of different assessments are available
for planning for the future when it comes to
personal academic goals.
1. ACCUPLACER® is an adaptive test which measures skills
in math, English and reading. It cannot be passed or failed,
but results are used by advisors and counselors to
determine a student’s course selection, thus affecting one’s
academic goals.
2. ASVAB® was developed by the U.S. Department of
Defense and designed to encourage students to increase
self-knowledge. Results of the ASVAB® can point students
in the right direction whether planning for higher education
or immediate employment after high school.
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3. ACT® is universally accepted by all four year colleges and
universities. A student’s score can determine whether
he/she is accepted into the college or his/her choice.
4. SAT® provides students with the opportunity to learn about
academic strengths, be exempt from certain college level
courses, as well as gain information about scholarship
opportunities. Scores can determine a student’s
acceptance into his/her choice school.
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Even if you are not planning to attend a four
year college or university, these
assessments can impact and help identify
your career goals.
1. ACCUPLACER® tests skills vital to any profession, aiding to
identify areas a student excels in or needs work in. Because
the test is adaptive, it quickly recognizes a student’s ability,
thus producing better, more personalized results.
2. ASVAB® also evaluates students’ skills by comparing their
scores to other students in the same grade. Students can
see which ranges they fall within and better determine
which types of education or careers are fit for them.
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1. ACT® is not an aptitude test or IQ test, but provides a
unique interest inventory for future educational and career
planning.
2. SAT® scores provides students with the opportunity to
showcase skills learned outside of the classroom as well as
inside, demonstrating areas which could affect future career
goals.
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Decisions are:
• One choice made from different
alternative choices
• Commitment of resources that
cannot be retrieved
• Controlled by decision maker
• Measured in terms of a good or bad
decision by how well the process
was used
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1. What are some factors in
decision making?
A) Environment
B) Peers
C) Family
D) Self
E) All of the above
2. List the steps in the decision making process.
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3. Listed below are emotional blocks to
decision making. Which one does not
belong?
A) Self
B) Fear of failure
C) Stagnation
D) Fear of success
4. Procrastination is a decision making strategy to:
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A) Let someone else make the decisions
B) Consider every possible decision
C) Delay making a decision
D) Pick decision with the lowest level of risk
5. When making decisions, you
should try to avoid listening to
your impulses.
A) True
B) False
6. “Don’t worry about it!” Valerie deflected
when her mom asked about her homework.
This is an example of what decision making
strategy?
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The Curriculum Center for Family and Consumer Sciences.
Texas Tech University. http://www.hs.ttu.edu/ccfs
Ulrich-Hagner, Linda, Margaret Andrews and Mary StangCooke. Decisions in Action. 1988. Cincinnati: SouthWestern Publishing Co.
Hecklinger, Fred J. and Bernadette M. Black. Training for Life: A Practical Guide
to Career and Life Planning. 1994. Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co.
Production Coordinators:
Treena Aston
Leah Richardson
Production Manager:
Geoff Scott
Executive Producer:
G.W. Davis
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