The connection between the complexity of perception of an event and judging decisions in a complex situation

This study examines the process of judging complex real-life events in Israel: the disengagement from Gush Katif, Rabin’s assassination and the Second Lebanon War. The process of judging is based on Weiner’s attribution model, (Weiner, 2000, 2006); however, due to the complexity of the events studied, variables were added to characterize the perceived complexity of the event by the judge. The purpose of the study is to examine the connection between complex perception of an event and judgment. for all three events a negative path coefficient was found between the set of perception and the set of cognitive judgment variables. (=.-25, p<.01) In other words, the more complex the perception of an event, the more moderate the judgment, and the less negativity felt towards the actors in the event. These findings are important for educating students to a complex perception of a negative reality.