Finalist for the OMT Division Best Student Paper Award
In a world that’s changing faster than ever anticipated, due to factors such as technology, globalization, and climate change, decision-makers are consistently faced with ambiguity, complexity, and the unknown. In this paper, we theorize a dual pathway model of cognitive and social factors that contribute to the motivated denial of complex stimuli in policy-related decisions, both political and organizational, and potential implications. As the foundation of our model, we provide a working, contextual definition for complexity, explore the optimal balance of complexity and simplicity in decision- making, and discuss how individual differences impact the processing of complexity. We also review potential interventions that may improve decision-making in complex decision environments. Altogether, our paper advances research on complexity in decision-making and yields practical insights that can help leaders and managers approach today’s nuanced policy challenges.