Individual difference
s in deci
sion-making are a fundamental component of our under
standing of the deci
sion-making proce
ss. Scott and Bruce (1995) developed the General Deci
sion-Making Style (GDMS) que
stionnaire to a
sse
ss five deci
sion-making
style
s: rational, intuitive, dependent, avoidant, and
spontaneou
s.
sSec_2">Objective
spar0010">The purpose of our study was to translate and validate the GDMS into French. This measure has been used frequently to assess decision-making style since its creation. Yet, the scale is currently unavailable in French despite being already available in Slovak, Italian, and Swedish.
sSec_3">Method
spar0015">Following best practices for scale translation (e.g., Vallerand, 1989), the original version of the GDMS was administered to a group of 345 English-speaking participants and the translated version of the questionnaire was administered to a group of 325 French-speaking participants.
sSec_4">Results
spar0020">The properties of the translated questionnaire were then compared to those of the original questionnaire. Results of item-level, scale-level and measurement invariance analyses demonstrate that the translated measure, the Échelle des styles décisionnels, is a valid and reliable assessment of decision-making style in French-speaking populations.
sSec_5">Conclusion
spar0025">This measure already exists in languages that are much less commonly spoken than French. The newly translated Échelle des styles décisionnels will now allow researchers to validly assess decision-making style in French-speaking populations, thereby greatly increasing the ability to assess cross-cultural stability of decision-making theories.
