A novel CE-PT-MABAC method for T-spherical uncertain linguistic multiple attribute group decision-making

A T-spherical uncertain linguistic set (TSULS) is not only an expanded form of the T-spherical fuzzy set and the uncertain linguistic set but can also integrate the quantitative judging ideas and qualitative assessing information of decision-makers. For the description of complex and uncertain assessment data, TSULS is a powerful tool for the precise description and reliable processing of information data. However, the existing multi-attribute border approximation area comparison (MABAC) method has not been studied in TSULS. Thus, the goal of this paper is to extend and improve the MABAC method to tackle group decision-making problems with completely unknown weight information in the TSUL context. First, the cross-entropy measure and the interactive operation laws for the TSUL numbers are defined, respectively. Then, the two interactive aggregation operators for TSUL numbers are developed, namely T-spherical uncertain linguistic interactive weighted averaging and T-spherical uncertain linguistic interactive weighted geometric operators. Their effective properties and some special cases are also investigated. Subsequently, a new TSULMAGDM model considering the DM’s behavioral preference and psychology is built by integrating the interactive aggregation operators, the cross-entropy measure, prospect theory, and the MABAC method. To explore the effectiveness and practicability of the proposed model, an illustrative example of Sustainable Waste Clothing Recycling Partner selection is presented, and the results show that the optimal solution is h₃. Finally, the reliable, valid, and generalized nature of the method is further verified through sensitivity analysis and comparative studies with existing methods.