decision-making capacity
Power to choose
Decision-making capacity is the ability to understand information, weigh options, and make choices—especially regarding one's own welfare.
The term appears most often in medical and legal contexts, where professionals assess whether someone can consent to treatment or manage their affairs: The psychiatrist evaluated the patient's decision-making capacity.
Unlike competency, which is a legal determination, capacity is a clinical judgment that may fluctuate with illness or circumstance.
- reasoningDrawing logical conclusions
- judgmentReasoned decision-making capacity
- mental claritySharpness of thought
- autonomyIndependent decision-making capacity
- free willAutonomous choice capacity
clear thinking · informed consent · self-regulation · empathy · problem-solving · executive function · impulsivity · snap judgment · under pressure · critical thinking · comprehension · volition · accountability · stress management · memory · attention · time constraints · emotional intelligence
- legal statuslegal status, civil status, personhood, legal entity, legal identity
- guardianship lawlegal guardian, legal guardianship, conservatorship, ward of court, competency
decision-making capacityincapacity
Lack of ability
mental incapacity · lack of capacity · incompetence · cognitive impairment · diminished capacity
decision-making capacitydependence
State of needing another
incapacitation · helplessness · powerlessness · wardship · dependency
decision, making, capacity, deciding, decides, decisive, decisively, indecision, indecisive