Running head: HOW DECISION REVERSIBILITY AFFECTS MOTIVATION 1

How decision reversibility affects motivation

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 HOW DECISION REVERSIBILITY AFFECTS MOTIVATION 2

The article on decision reversibility is written by Lottie Bullens, Frenk and Jens Forster.

The article is divided into sections each of which focusses on a principal area of research regarding

the research topic. The principal focus of the article is the manner in which the reversibility of

decision can affect motivation. Based on the extant findings, the authors highlight that decision

reversibility could affect motivation by strengthening different foci of motivation. This is with

reversible decision-making as opposed to the case of irreversible decision making, promoting the

strength of the prevention that is rooted to the prevention to a greater extent than the kind of

motivation that is not related to the promotion. In such a case, the author indicates that the

reversibility of the decision should have its effects in association with relative differences between

promotion and prevention-related motivation. The article documents the tests that were conducted

to these predictions. This is conducted in fives tests that manipulate the decision reversibility using

different focus indicators of regulation motivation.

The tests that study one conducted included the differences in preferences of the

participants in their approach and their avoidance strategies towards a desirable end state.

Similarly, the second study involved accuracy and speed performance as indicators of the

regulatory motivation of the participants. Study three involved measuring global as well as the

local time is taken for a reaction performance. A different perspective was assumed for the study

four in which value from the fit hypothesis was utilized. Tests were carried out on the possibility

of a fit between the focus resulting from the chronic regulatory and the focus that acquired its

induction from the reversibility of the decision that increased the subjective positive feeling of the

participants feeling about the outcome of a decision. Finally, study five aimed at testing whether

or not the regulation motivation that the decision reversibility influenced the preference of the

participants in specific features of the of the product. The result of each experiment conducted
 HOW DECISION REVERSIBILITY AFFECTS MOTIVATION 3

supported the research hypothesis. Indeed, the results indicated that, in comparison with the

irreversible decision, reversible decision form the basis of strengthening a focus for preventing

focus to a greater extent that the promotion focus.

The article makes important deductions regarding the decisions we make, including the

view on the irreversibility of the decisions we make. More o, there are decisions we make that

leave room for second-guessing our initial preference such as when we return goods within a few

weeks after making the purchase or when a firm includes a period of probation upon hiring an

employee to assess their performance and suitability for working in a particular position. The

article finds that individual has an initial preference for a reversible decision. Most of the people

have the limitation of the information and knowledge of reversibility of decisions. Research

indicates that there is a stronger preference for the decision supportive information following

irreversibility of a decision as opposed to the reversible decisions. Regarding the subjective

perceptions of the people on the reversibility and irreversibility of the outcome of a decision, there

is the tendency of the people to express a preference for an opportunity to revise. In such cases,

reversible decisions will usually yield lower post-choice satisfaction.

Regarding the literature of the goal fulfillment, there is the tendency to have the high

accessibility of the concepts that are goals-related after reversible decisions are made as opposed

to irreversible decisions. The accessibility to the concepts that are decision-related decreases soon

as the decisions change from the irreversible to the reversible decisions. The researchers noted that

there is the tendency for the people to remain occupied with the decision provided they can change

their minds. Further, people are usually subjected to strain in their cognitive resources from the

revise option because reversible decisions have some detrimental consequences for the working

capacity of the memory.

 HOW DECISION REVERSIBILITY AFFECTS MOTIVATION 4

The article on the manner in which the decision reversibility affects motivation is well-

grounded. The authors succinctly research on the research topic before they can formulate their

thesis. After gathering sufficient information from the literature, they develop a sufficient thesis

addressing the thought on the reversibility and irreversibility of a decision. Research is then

organized clearly into five sections, each with a different area that will facilitate testing of the

developed hypotheses. Through each of the five tests, the research approves the developed thesis

by experimental data collected from the research. The research is an important step that has

indicated the manner in which decision-making may orient the decision-maker towards promotion

versus the prevention decision making styles that affect a variety of styles. The specific findings

of the study, with this regard is that there exists a link between regulatory focus motivations and

decision reversibility. It was a great move that decision reversibility proved a better fit with a

prevention motivation as opposed to the promotion motivation. The article, therefore, sufficiently

addresses the manner in which reversibility of decision affects motivation.