The Effect of a Quantitative Decision Aid – Analytic Hierarchy Process – on Group Polarization

The objective of this paper is to examine group polarization in subjects who have access to a quantitative decision aid, comparing to subjects who do not. Group polarization indicates the opinion of a group involved in a decision process will tend to be more extreme in the direction of the norm than the initial opinions of its members. Most of previous studies were focused on the theoretical explanation of this effect. Two theories are generally proposed to explain it: social comparison (SC) and persuasive arguments (PA). As we know, no study has been worked on how it can be dealt with. In this study, we use Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) as a quantitative decision aid in a group process to examine the changes of this effect. Two hundred and forty undergraduate students participated in this study. Results show that persuasive argument was significantly reduced by the use of AHP, while no significant effect was found in group polarization and social comparison. The implications of the findings are further discussed.