SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Cognit.
Sec. Reason and Decision-Making
This article is part of the Research TopicBuilding Resilience Through Sustainability: Innovative Strategies In Agricultural SystemsView all 29 articles
Cognitive Mapping to Decode Farmer Mindsets in Agricultural Decision-Making: A Systematic Review
Provisionally accepted
A P SriVidhya
J Paul Mansingh*- Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, India
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ABSTRACT Background Farmers decision-making processes are critical to the implementation of technologies and climate-resilient sustainable practices. These decisions are subject to complex thinking processes, which include risk perception and belief systems. This systematic review explains the decision-making process of farmers, through cognitive mapping. Moreover, it examines mental models, perception, belief system and cause-effect relationship of farmers with particular attention given to their behaviour and practices. Methods The research adopted the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) framework. It utilized Scopus and Web of Science databases to retrieve 80 articles. The main aim was to identify research trends and gaps through bibliometric analysis and the TCCM framework by focusing on major theories, contexts, characteristics, and methodologies of agricultural cognitive-mapping research. Results The major trends identified in this study are risk perception in agricultural economics, climatic change, technology adoption, conservative agricultural and sustainability. The major stakeholders considered included farmers (cattle, pig, rice and date farmers), extension agents, policymakers, NGOs, rural households, agro-industries, technology providers, and the holders of indigenous knowledge. There are still major gaps in understanding the psychological and cognitive processes underlying the decisions of farmers: longitudinal studies are limited, the role of gender is not studied thoroughly, particularly in the conditions of climate-change effects and policy shifts. Discussion Though, the mental model, perceptions, and belief systems have a significant impact on agricultural decision-making, there are still gaps in the comprehension of psychological and cognitive mechanisms involved since it is a persistent problem in the agricultural decision-making process. Future studies must incorporate the behavioural psychology, mixed-methods and cross-cultural research designs to develop integrated models that support agricultural sustainability and resilience.
Keywords: cognitive mapping, Agriculture, Farmers, Behavior, Decision Making, TCCM
Received: 26 Aug 2025; Accepted: 12 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 SriVidhya and Paul Mansingh. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: J Paul Mansingh, paul.mansingh@vit.ac.in
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