Cognitive Load on Leadership Decision-Making: Conscious and Unconscious responses

Abstract

Cognitive load significantly influences leadership decision-making, particularly in high-pressure scenarios. Despite its pivotal role, the connection between cognitive load, decision-making, and physiological responses among leaders remains inadequately understood. Our study aimed to explore the influence of age, sex, years of experience, educational level, and the interplay of reasoning versus intuition on both conscious and unconscious cognitive load during and after a leadership decision-making simulation task. We utilized Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) to evaluate unconscious responses. Notably, our findings revealed a noteworthy negative correlation between leadership experience and perceived cognitive load (r = -0.787, p < 0.007), a robust positive correlation between GSR during the task and decision-making (r = 0.999, p < 0.000), and a significant link between the application of Kahneman’s System 2 thinking – characterized by comprehensive analysis and critical thinking – and the quality of decision-making (r = -0.678, p < 0.031). However, we did not find significant correlations between age, sex, and educational level with perceived cognitive load during and after the decision-making task. In summary, our study suggests that seasoned leaders exhibit superior capabilities in managing cognitive load during complex decision-making scenarios and proposes physiological arousal as a potential indicator of cognitive load during leadership decision-making tasks.