“I am less biased than others”: the mediating effect of career exploration on decision style and bias blind spot

Purpose This study primarily investigated the tendency of management students to exhibit bias blind spots on three biases related to career decision-making. Second, it also explores how different decision styles, namely rational and intuitive, relate to bias blind spots, considering career exploration as a key factor that might influence this relationship. Design/methodology/approach To gather data from 277 second-year MBA students specializing in management and business administration from two southern states of India. SPSS software was used to measure the bias blind spot score, and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the hypotheses. Findings The research findings highlight that students exhibit a bias blind spot tendency during self and environment exploration, and the decision styles indirectly affect bias blind spots through the mediating effects of career exploration. Originality/value These findings have implications for future research in career psychology, career guidance, and social psychology and for developing interventions to enhance career exploration behavior and decision-making styles to mitigate cognitive biases in career decision-making.