Image theory focuses on an individual making a decision in the context of a relationship or organization with a presumption that the decision may remain or may later be changed. Image theory was proposed as an alternative to traditional decision-making theory and as a descriptive psychological theory of decision making (Mitchell & Beach, 1990).

Images can be defined as information structures representing different kinds of information about what the decision maker is doing, how and why he or she is doing it, and what kind of progress is being made (Beach & Mitchell, 1987). Image theory uses the term “image” to refer to the schemata involved in decision making (Mitchell & Beach, 1990). Schemata refer to cognitive frameworks that help decision makers organize their world and provide meaning and structure to incoming information that aids in the decision-making process.