Investigation of relation between decision making and Self-Actualization P. Senthamizh Pavai ⇑ , K. Geetha, J. Vigneshwari, L. Maria Suganthi ⇑ Dr.M.G.R Educational and Research Institute, Maduravoyl, Chennai 600095, India article info Article history: Received 22 May 2020 Accepted 1 June 2020 Available online xxxx Keywords: Self-esteem Vigilance Hyper vigilance Procrastination and Buck passing Self Actualization abstract Adolescence is a transitional period of life prior to full maturity, which results from the rapid changes in the physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development. Adolescents need to be protected and they need to be kept under control in cognitive processes such as decision-making. In this period the decisions taken on issues including selection of job and professional life affect the health, careers, psychological wellbeing as well as social acceptance of the individuals for their lifetime Baiocco R and Mann L [1,2]. Adolescence is a period where they begin to explore and assert their personal identities and potentialities and self-actualization is a driving force that will ultimately lead to enhance abilities and determine the path of one’s life. The present study consisted of thousand students drawn randomly from higher sec- ondary schools in and around Chennai districts. The tools used to collect data for the study were (i) Decision Making Questionnaire, (ii) Self actualization Questionnaire and (iii) Personal Data Sheet. t-test and regression were used for the study. Regression analysis showed that there is a positive relationship between decision making and self actualization among adolescents. Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Confer- ence on Newer Trends and Innovation in Mechanical Engineering: Materials Science. 1. Introduction Abraham Maslow (1943) built a hierarchical pyramid relation- ship for human needs, where the base consists of physical needs and the top self-actualization Maslow AH. [3,4]. Self- actualization is the desire for self-fulfillment, the tendency to become actualized in what they are capable of. This tendency is the desire to become more and more what one is, to become every- thing that one is capable of becoming self-actualized. Self-actualized people are problem-focused, ready to appreciate life, concern about personal growth; and they have the ability to have peak experiences. Such type of person will make very good decision. A considerable change takes place in the development of deci- sion making skills in adolescence [2]. Changes in applying cogni- tive processes in decision making, considering the targets that can be reached, revising information at hand reasonable, thinking of the possible consequences of decisions, and being faithful to the decisions given. Rice MF [5] state that this behavior is a vigilant information processing. They point out that the stress experienced in decision-making process directly influences the decision- making behavior and that there is an increase in stress when the possible risks are considered after the decision given. This, in turn, causes an individual to give less vigilant or inappropriate decisions. When the risks are not conceived or neglected, the alternatives might not be evaluated sufficiently and this will cause an individ- ual to give inappropriate decisions. Stress at middle level most probably results in more vigilant decisions. 2. Review of related literature Çiftçi [6] attempted a study on adolescents’ self-esteem and decision-making behaviors. The sample consisted of 608 students who were between the ages of 13 and 14 and attending secondary schools in Ankara, Turkey. The tools used were The Personal Infor- mation Form, Cooper Smith Self-Esteem Inventory and Adolescent Decision-Making Questionnaire. The major findings of the study showed that the adolescents’ self-esteem levels were found to have effects on their decision-making processes. And also there were meaningful gender differences in terms of self-esteem and decision-making levels; the VII grade students had higher scores than the 8th grade students regarding general self-esteem, home-family self-esteem, academic self-esteem, self-esteem (short form) and total self-esteem. Moreover, the behavior of running https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.06.002 2214-7853/Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Newer Trends and Innovation in Mechanical Engineering: Materials Science. ⇑ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: senthamizhpavai.bed@drmgrdu.ac.in (P. Senthamizh Pavai), senthamizhpavai.bed@drmgrdu.ac.in (L. Maria Suganthi). Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Materials Today: Proceedings journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/matpr Please cite this article as: P. Senthamizh Pavai, K. Geetha, J. Vigneshwari et al., Investigation of relation between decision making and Self-Actualization, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.06.002