Reflecti-Mate: A Conversational Agent for Adaptive Decision-Making Support Through System 1 and System 2 Thinking

2026-05-21

AI Summary

This study addresses a critical limitation in existing decision support systems, which predominantly focus on cognitive processes while neglecting individual differences and the roles of intuition and emotion in reflective decision-making. To bridge this gap, the authors propose a novel conversational agent grounded in dual-process theory—integrating System 1 (intuitive) and System 2 (analytical) thinking—and leveraging natural language processing with adaptive interaction strategies to dynamically identify and respond to users’ cognitive-affective states. In an experimental evaluation involving 128 participants, the agent significantly enhanced both the breadth and depth of user reflection, fostered integration among cognitive, emotional, and intuitive dimensions, elicited more integrative linguistic expressions, and was perceived by users as providing substantially stronger overall reflective support compared to baseline approaches.

Abstract

Making high-stakes personal decisions involves cognitive, emotional, and intuitive processes, and individuals differ in how they allocate attention across these modes. Integration of these processes has shown to benefit decision making. Yet, most current decision-support systems focus primarily on supporting cognitive aspects, rather than adapting to the individual's thinking profile to support integration of different types of thoughts. In this study, we investigate an agent designed to encourage integration by adapting to the individual user's thought patterns. We explore its effects on participants' perceptions of the agent and their reflective behavior, in comparison with unaided pre-reflection and a baseline agent. In a between-subjects study (N = 128), our agent, which fostered broad and elaborated thinking, enabled more personalized reflective trajectories, elicited more integrative reflective language, and was perceived as providing stronger support for holistic reflection. In contrast, the baseline agent produced homogenized profiles dominated by cognitive language across participants.

Problem

• decision-making support
• System 1 and System 2 thinking
• adaptive agent
• reflective behavior
• thinking integration

Innovation

• conversational agent
• adaptive decision support
• System 1 and System 2 thinking
• integrative reflection
• personalized reflection