Final answer:
Decision making influenced by friends, family, or colleagues includes recognizing social pressures and cognitive biases like the bandwagon fallacy. While group consensus can impact choices significantly, personal judgment is key to making sound decisions.
Step-by-step explanation:
Decision making based on the suggestion of a friend, colleague, or family member involves several cognitive biases and social influences. We often face serious consequences when making choices, such as career paths or personal commitments. Considering family and friends' influence is common as they may hold strong opinions on what they believe is best for us.
When participating in group decisions like picking a venue or solving a problem at work, group dynamics play a crucial role. One might change their behavior to match the group even if they do not personally agree. This is sometimes referred to as the bandwagon fallacy, where the opinions of many are taken as an argument for or against the quality of a certain choice, which is not always a reliable method for decision-making.
Legislators, for instance, often rely on voting cues from various sources to make decisions on unfamiliar issues. Similarly, friends and peers can act as informal cues in personal decision making, but it's important to balance their input with critical thinking and personal judgment.