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Effects of many conflicting objectives on decision-makers’ cognitive burden and decision consistency

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  • Kivikangas, J. Matias
  • Vilkkumaa, Eeva
  • Blank, Julian
  • Harjunen, Ville
  • Malo, Pekka
  • Deb, Kalyanmoy
  • Ravaja, Niklas J.
  • Wallenius, Jyrki
Abstract
Practical planning and decision-making problems are often better and more accurately formulated with multiple conflicting objectives rather than a single objective. This study investigates a situation relevant for Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) as well as Evolutionary Multi-objective Optimization (EMO), where the decision-maker needs to make a series of choices between nondominated options characterized by multiple objectives. The cognitive capacity of humans is limited, which leads to cognitive burden that influences human decision-makers’ decisions. We measure how the varying number of objectives influences cognitive burden in a laboratory study, and the impacts that this burden has on the decision-makers’ behavior and the consistency of their decisions. We use psychophysiological, behavioral, and self-report methods. Our results suggest that a higher number of objectives (i) increases cognitive burden significantly, (ii) leads to adopting strategies in which only a limited number of objectives is considered, and (iii) decreases decision consistency.

Suggested Citation

  • Kivikangas, J. Matias & Vilkkumaa, Eeva & Blank, Julian & Harjunen, Ville & Malo, Pekka & Deb, Kalyanmoy & Ravaja, Niklas J. & Wallenius, Jyrki, 2025. "Effects of many conflicting objectives on decision-makers’ cognitive burden and decision consistency," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 322(1), pages 182-197.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ejores:v:322:y:2025:i:1:p:182-197
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ejor.2024.10.039
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