Towards a perspective theory of decision making and judgment

The notion of perspectives in its literal perceptual sense is assumed to shed light on thinking in general and evaluative processes in decision making and judgments in particular. Three determinants of perspectives in thinking are identified: (a) the subject, i.e., subject orientation, (b) the object, and (c) psychological distance between subject and object. Dependent on the congruence between subject orientation and characteristics of the object different figure-ground relationships are formed. When an inside perspective is adopted (the object is seen as affiliated with the subject) positive features form the ground and negative features are in the background. Conversely, when an outside perspective is adopted (the object is seen as separate from the subject) negative features form the figure and positive features are in the background. A model is outlined for relationships among perspectives, evaluations and external constraints in decision making and judgment. Empirical data from three empirical studies illustrate the validity of the framework described in the paper.