Distance and similarity measures for multiple-attribute decision making with dual hesitant fuzzy sets

Dual hesitant fuzzy set, first proposed by Zhu et al. (Dual hesitant fuzzy sets, J Appl Math, 1-13, 2012) as an extension of hesitant fuzzy sets, which encompass fuzzy sets, intuitionistic fuzzy sets, hesitant fuzzy sets, and fuzzy multisets as a special case. Dual hesitant fuzzy sets consist of two parts, that is, the membership and nonmembership degrees, which are represented by two sets of possible values. Therefore, in accordance with the practical demand, these sets are more flexible than the existing fuzzy sets, and provide much more information about the situation. In this paper, the axiom definition of distance and similarity measures between dual hesitant fuzzy sets is introduced. Some new distance and similarity measures based on the geometric distance model, the set-theoretic approach, and the matching functions are proposed. The proposed distance measures are then applied to the multiple-attribute decision making under dual hesitant fuzzy environments. Through the distance measure between each alternative and the ideal alternative, the ranking order of all alternatives can be determined and the best alternative can be easily identified as well. Finally, a practical example of investment alternatives is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed measures. The advantages of the proposed distance measure over existing measures have been presented.