Decision-making and responsibility are terms we use to describe complex psychological processes, actions, and stances. When we try to articulate our decisions or explain how responsibility works, we find ways to manage our own accountability.

In this research, the focus is on analysing how people talk about decision-making and responsibility in the context of sustainable design. An approach called discursive psychology has been used to analyse conversations about sustainable design projects. Instead of trying to understand what might be going on in someone’s mind, discursive psychology focuses on understanding what someone does in a conversation – what actions do they accomplish? For example, do they avoid commenting on a particular subject; justify a particular behaviour; deflect responsibility to others; or work to portray themselves as a good person. By closely examining how people talk, we can identify the specific discursive features and strategies used to help achieve these actions – such as hesitation, changes in volume or speed, or using specific vocabularies.

On these web pages, you will find insights from a discursive psychology analysis on how decisions in product design are accounted for, and how responsibility for sustainability in design is negotiated. Through identifying patterns of actions achieved in similar interactional contexts, we can gain new insights into how to more effectively discuss decision-making and responsibility in workplace settings.

Learn more about discursive psychology: Wiggins, Sally. 2017. Discursive Psychology: Theory, Method and Applications. London: SAGE.