The relationship between university students' perceived level of uncertainty and their decision-making behaviors

The main purpose of this research is to reveal the relationship between the levels of uncertainty perceived by university students before and after the pandemic (this is the period when the effect of the pandemic continues) according to various demographic characteristics (gender, age, class and department of education) and their decision-making behaviors. The research was carried out by adopting the relational screening model. The sample of the study consisted of students attending undergraduate and graduate programs from different departments of various universities in the 2021-2022 academic year. The sample was determined by convenient sampling method. "Decision Making Scale" and "Attitude towards Uncertainty Scale" were used to collect data in the study. Levene's Homogeneity Test and Shapiro-Wilk Test of Normality were used to determine the tests to be used in the solution and interpretation of the analyzes and to test the assumptions. Mann-Whitney U Test to determine whether decision-making behavior and perceived uncertainty levels differ according to gender; Kruskal Wallis H Test was used to determine whether decision-making behavior and uncertainty levels differ according to age, class, and department of education. Sperman Rank Differences Correlation was calculated to determine the relationship between university students' perceived uncertainty levels and their decision-making behaviors. The obtained data were analyzed with the Jamovi 2.3.18 program. In the study, it was determined that the relationship between uncertainty levels and decision-making behaviors was significant and positive. In the findings of the study, in some sub-dimensions of the decision-making behavior of university students according to gender and age before and after the pandemic; A significant difference was noted only in the pre-pandemic vigilance sub-dimension by class. It was determined that the difference between the levels of uncertainty perceived by the students according to gender was significant before and after the pandemic. In the study, it was concluded that students' perception of uncertainty differed and was higher after the pandemic when compared before and after the pandemic.