My OpenLearn Profile
- Personalise your OpenLearn profile
- Save your favourite content
- Get recognition for your learning
- Subjects
- Money & Business
- Free courses
- Making decisions
Making decisions

Do you hate making decisions? Does the ability of others to make snap decisions really frustrate you? This free course will help you understand some of the processes involved in decision making. Attention to the psychology of decision making and the social context in which decisions are made can improve your understanding of others and yourself.
Course learning outcomes
After studying this course, you should be able to:
After studying this course, you should be able to:
- have greater insight into decision-making processes
- use that insight to make more effective decisions
- possess a range of different perspectives on what counts as an ‘effective’ decision
- be better equipped to understand and influence the decision-making processes of other individuals and groups
- understand better how people perceive and decide about risk.
First Published: 09/08/2012
Updated: 05/06/2019
You can start this course right now without signing-up. Click on any of the course content sections below to start at any point in this course.
If you want to be able to track your progress, earn a free Statement of Participation, and access all course quizzes and activities, sign-up.
Course content
- Introduction
- Learning outcomes
- 1 Making decisions
- 2 Understanding your own approach
- 3 The rational-economic perspective and its problems
- 4 A psychological perspective
- 5 A sociological perspective
- 6 Risk and decision making
- 7 Making a difference to decision making
- Conclusion
- References
- Acknowledgements
- This site has Copy Reuse Tracking enabled - see our FAQs for more information.
Tags, Ratings and Social Bookmarking
Create an account to get more
Track your progress
Review and track your learning through your OpenLearn Profile.
Statement of Participation
On completion of a course you will earn a Statement of Participation.
Access all course activities
Take course quizzes and access all learning.
Review the course
When you have finished a course leave a review and tell others what you think.
Creative commons: The Open University is proud to release this free course under a Creative Commons licence.
However, any third-party materials featured within it are used with permission and are not ours to give away. These materials are not subject to the Creative Commons licence. See terms and conditions377 and our FAQs378.
Full copyright details can be found in the Acknowledgements section of each week.
For further information, take a look at our frequently asked questions which may give you the support you need.
Have a question?Take your learning further371
Making the decision to study can be a big step, which is why you'll want a trusted University. The Open University has 50 years’ experience delivering flexible learning and 170,000 students are studying with us right now. Take a look at all Open University courses372.
If you are new to university level study, we offer two introductory routes to our qualifications. Find out Where to take your learning next?373 You could either choose to start with an Access courses374or an open box module, which allows you to count your previous learning towards an Open University qualification.
Not ready for University study then browse over 1000 free courses on OpenLearn375 and sign up to our newsletter376 to hear about new free courses as they are released.
Every year, thousands of students decide to study with The Open University. With over 120 qualifications, we’ve got the right course for you.
About this free course
4 hours study
Level 3: Advanced
Create an account to
get more
Create an account and sign in. Enrol and complete the course for a free statement of participation or digital badge if available.
Create account / Sign inDownload this course
Share this free course
Course rewards
Free statement of participation on completion of these courses.
OpenLearn Search website
OpenLearn Links
Footer Menu
Our partners
OpenLearn works with other organisations by providing free courses and resources that support our mission of opening up educational opportunities to more people in more places.


©1999-2020. All rights reserved. The Open University is incorporated by Royal Charter (RC 000391), an exempt charity in England & Wales and a charity registered in Scotland (SC 038302). The Open University is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in relation to its secondary activity of credit broking.