Decision-making is a complex cognitive process that researchers most often examine through third-person methods and/or in laboratory settings. Such approaches, however, are limited due to their lack of ecological validity and their neglect of the first-person perspective. To understand how people experience decision-making from a first-person perspective and in everyday decision-making situations, it is necessary to review studies that have employed phenomenological approaches. This master’s thesis aims to provide a scoping review of empirical studies that have investigated the lived experience of decision-making in mentally healthy adult participants through phenomenological methods. The outcome and contribution of this research is twofold: (1) a map of the research field, showing similarities and differences among the studies, their classification, and research gaps, and (2) a qualitative thematic synthesis of the findings of these studies, in which I identified 17 themes and grouped them into 5 broader thematic clusters. In addition, I identified research gaps and provided suggestions for future research and systematic reviews. This thesis thus provides insight into what has already been researched phenomenologically about decision-making, contributes to a better understanding of decision-making as a multifaceted process that extends beyond existing definitions and cognitive models and offers guidance for the further development of scientific inquiry into decision-making in natural, real-life contexts.
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