The European Educational Researcher

The Preference of the Use of Intuition Over Other Methods of Problem Solving by Undergraduate Students

Melissa Cai Shi 1,
Anne M Lucietto 1 *
1 Purdue University* Corresponding Author
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The European Educational Researcher, Volume 5, Issue 3, October 2022, pp. 253-275
OPEN ACCESS VIEWS: 995 DOWNLOADS: 535 Publication date: 15 Oct 2022
ABSTRACT
Intuition is one of the main factors that drive our everyday decision-making which happens quickly and unconsciously. Individuals often rely on the use of intuition to solve either simple or complex problems. The purpose of this research study is to further break down an individual’s thinking processes by understanding how different groups of individuals utilize intuition to make effective decisions. Major, gender, college year of classification, and ethnicity were the main factors analyzed in the study to identify if these factors have a significant impact on the use of each intuition type. The data collected from a survey distributed to undergraduate students at Purdue University (n=1109) was used to build a regression model for each intuition type: inferential (p = 3.524x10−11), affective (p = 2.200x10−16), holistic big picture (p = 1.755x10−4), and holistic abstract (p = 3.195x10−7). The results showed that inferential intuition was influenced by gender and ethnicity, while all four studied factors major, gender, ethnicity, and college year of classification have an impact on affective intuition. The holistic big-picture intuition model indicated that only gender and college influenced the use of this intuition type. In addition, gender, major, and ethnicity were the main drivers for holistic abstract intuition usage. The study suggests that intuition usage is driven by all four factors with gender as the main factor that have an impact on all four of the types of intuition. These findings provide a deeper insight into the main factors that influence the use of intuition.
KEYWORDS
Intuition, Types of Intuition, Major, Gender, College Year of Classification, Ethnicity
CITATION (APA)
Cai Shi, M., & Lucietto, A. M. (2022). The Preference of the Use of Intuition Over Other Methods of Problem Solving by Undergraduate Students. The European Educational Researcher, 5(3), 253-275. https://doi.org/10.31757/euer.532
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