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Regret Theory-Driven Method for Addressing Multi-Attribute Decision-Making under Probabilistic Double Hierarchy Linguistic Term Set and Application to Information System Investment Project Selection
Pub. online: 30 March 2026      Type: Research Article      Open accessOpen Access
Received
1 December 2025
Accepted
1 March 2026
Published
30 March 2026

Abstract

Taking into account the irrational elements and regret aversion of decision makers (DMs) during the decision-making process, regret theory (RT) and the TODIM methods have been integrated into a decision-making framework to develop an enhanced multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) method (PDHL-RT-TODIM) within probabilistic double hierarchy linguistic (PDHL) environment. Specifically, extending the perceived utility function in RT to determine the regret and joy values of the overall advantage flow of alternatives calculated by TODIM method in PDHL environment. Then, a correlation coefficient (CC) and standard deviation (SD) integral (CCSD) method was created using the probabilistic double hierarchy linguistic set (PDHLTS) distance metric and PDHL weight arithmetic operator to establish the objective weights of attributes. Additionally, the effectiveness of this proposed method was illustrated through numerical examples for information system investment project selection, and its stability, efficiency, and benefits were further confirmed through sensitivity analysis and comparisons with existing methods.

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Biographies

Lei Fan

F. Lei was born in 1996, obtained her PhD in mathematics from Sichuan Normal University in 2024. She is currently a lecturer at the Civil Aviation Flight Academy of China. She has published academic papers in journals such as International Journal of Intelligent Systems, Technological and Economic Development of Economy, International Journal of Fuzzy Systems, Soft Computing, International Journal of Knowledge based and Intelligent Engineering Systems, International Journal of Computational Intelligence Systems, Journal of Intelligent & Fuzzy Systems. Among them: including 1 highly cited and hot topic paper in JCR Zone 1, and 1 highly cited paper.

Xu Haiwen
hwxu@cafuc.edu.cn

H. Xu with a doctoral degree, is a master’s supervisor and professor. He currently serves as the Dean and Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Science at the Civil Aviation Flight Academy of China, as well as the head of the national first-class undergraduate program construction site for the “Information and Computational Science” major. He is also the director of the Civil Aviation Information Deep Learning Laboratory and the Institute of Computational Mathematics. Research direction: optimization theory and algorithms, civil aviation operations research, big data processing, deep learning. In recent years, more than 20 papers have been published in important academic journals at home and abroad, such as Journal of Industrial and Management Optimization and Optimization Letters; Executive Director of Sichuan Provincial On site Statistics Association, presided over the completion of one National Natural Science Foundation project and participated in the completion of one major project supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology; hosted 5 central university education and teaching reform funding projects, 1 Sichuan province higher education talent cultivation quality teaching reform project, and 2 Ministry of Education industry university cooperation and collaborative education projects, won 1 national third prize in the National Mathematical Modelling Micro Course (Case) Teaching Competition, 1 third prize in the National Simulation Teaching Competition Teaching Courseware Group, 2 school level teaching achievement awards, and 2 teaching construction awards. In 2022, won 1 second prize in the Excellent Achievement Award of Sichuan Provincial On site Statistics Association; published one textbook.

He Yaxing

Y. He received her PhD degree from the School of Mathematical Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, China, in 2024. She is currently a lecturer at the Civil Aviation Flight University of China. Her research interests include stochastic service system, applied probability, and their applications in optimal decision analysis.

Wei Guiwu

G. Wei has an MSc and a PhD degree in applied mathematics from South West Petroleum University, business administration from school of Economics and Management at South West Jiaotong University, China, respectively. From May 2010 to April 2012, he was a postdoctoral researcher with the School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. He is a professor in the School of Business at Sichuan Normal University. He has published more than 100 papers in journals, books and conference proceedings including journals such as Omega, Decision Support Systems, Expert Systems with Applications, Applied Soft Computing, Knowledge and Information Systems, Computers & Industrial Engineering, Knowledge-Based Systems, International Journal of Intelligent Systems, International Journal of Uncertainty, Fuzziness and Knowledge-Based Systems, International Journal of Computational Intelligence Systems, International Journal of Machine Learning and Cybernetics, Fundamenta Informaticae, Informatica, Kybernetes, International Journal of Knowledge-Based and Intelligent Engineering Systems and Information: An International Interdisciplinary Journal. He has published 1 book. He has participated in several scientific committees and serves as a reviewer in a wide range of journals including Computers & Industrial Engineering, International Journal of Information Technology and Decision Making, Knowledge-Based Systems, Information Sciences, International Journal of Computational Intelligence Systems and European Journal of Operational Research. He is currently interested in aggregation operators, decision making and computing with words.

Wei Cun
weicun1990@163.com

C. Wei was born in 1990. He received the PhD in management science and engineering from Southwest University of Finance and Economics in 2023. He is currently a lecturer at the Management School, Xihua University. He has contributed more than 81 journal articles to professional journals, such as Artificial Intelligence Review, International Journal of Intelligent Systems, Informatica, Chinese Journal of Management Science, International Journal of Machine Learning and Cybernetics, Journal of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management, Technological and Economic Development of Economy, Soft Computing, International Journal of Fuzzy Systems, Alexandria Engineering Journal, Iranian Journal of Fuzzy Systems, International Journal of Fuzzy Systems, and so on. His current research interests include decision analysis, fuzzy decision making, group decision making, decision support systems, soft computing and technology innovation investment and management.


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© 2026 Vilnius University
Open access article under the CC BY license.

Keywords
multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) probabilistic double hierarchy linguistic term set (PDHLTS) regret theory (RT) CCSD method information system investment project selection

Funding
The work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan Province Grant Number 2025ZNSFSC0818, the Sichuan Flight Engineering Technology Research Centre Grant Number GY2024-09C, the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities Grant Number 25CAFUC04072 and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities Grant Number D2025CZ10.

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