Exploring the psychology of trade-off decision-making in environmental impact assessment
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Date
Authors
Retief, Francois
Morrison-Saunders, Angus
Geneletti, Davide
Pope, Jenny
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Abstract
Dealing with trade-offs lies at the heart of environmental impact assessment (EIA). However, there has been scant reflection
to date on the concept of trade-offs within the EIA literature. This paper aims to contribute to the thinking about trade-offs by
distilling key learning points from research conducted within the field of psychology. In particular, the paper explores three
interrelated questions namely: When are trade-off decisions difficult? How do we react when faced with difficult trade-off
decisions? And how can we deal with difficult trade-off decisions? The research confirms that EIA functions within a very
difficult trade-off decision-making context and that observed behaviour related to these difficult decisions can be explained
from a psychology perspective. In order to deal better with trade-off decisions, it is helpful to be able to predict decision
difficulty and anticipate resultant behaviour. Moreover, the way we present and frame decisions affects their outcomes.
Description
Citation
Retief, F. et al. 2013. Exploring the psychology of trade-off decision-making in environmental impact assessment. Impact assessment and project appraisal. 31(1):13-23. [http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tiap20/current]