Haste makes waste, but not for all: The speed-accuracy trade-off does not apply to neurotics

Abstract

Objectives To examine if neurotics are the exception to the speed-accuracy rule and in fact are more accurate when making faster decisions.

Design The study employed a laboratory-based, cross-sectional design.

Method One hundred and ninety-six elite young cricketers completed measures of neuroticism before performing a cricket-specific computer-based decision-making task.

Results Neuroticism significantly moderated the relationship between decision-making time and decision-making accuracy such that decreases in response time were associated with improvements in decision-making accuracy for individuals with high levels of neuroticism. Conversely, decreases in response time were associated with decrements in accuracy for individuals with low levels of neuroticism.

Conclusions The study presents the first data that confirm that speed accuracy trade-offs do not occur across all individuals; individuals with high levels of neuroticism benefit from making faster decisions.