Where Do Decision-Related Feelings Come From?
Making decisions is always connected with feelings. Their strength varies, ranging
from strong and irresistible impulses pushing us towards or away from certain solutions
to weak, undefined and hard to interpret ones. Have you ever wondered where these
feeling come from and to what extent they can be relied on? The science of today
has quite a lot to say about it.
Based on:
"Intuition in Judgment and Decision Making"
A significant influence on decision-making process comes from the emotional state
of the decision maker. Emotions filter all the information available to us and are
often compared to a pair of colored glasses through which we look at the surrounding
world. When in a good mood, we can retrieve and perceive positive input more easily.
It is as if we saw the world through emotional rose-colored glasses. A bad mood,
on the other hand, causes us to look at the world through black-colored glasses.
This means that negative input finds its way to our perception of the world quicker.
The factors influencing people's emotional state are numerous and even a very general
discussion of this issue will go beyond the scope of this article. Its aim is to
explain the origin of intuitive feelings such as 'I have a hunch I should choose
A over B' as well as pointing to the dangers related with them.
The Experimental System As a Source of Feelings
The research into the psychology of decision making is often based on the model
of a two-system center of decision making. What it advocates is that human behavior
is a resultant of the action of two significantly different, yet closely cooperating
systems: experimental and rational. A short characteristic of both can be found
here.
According to this theory feelings related to a particular decision result from the
working of the experimental system. Its action is connected with an evolutionarily
older part of the brain which contains, among others, centers responsible for emotions.
Imagine that this part of the brain can communicate its observations only by switching
on particular emotional states. It operates beyond consciousness, independently
of your will and that is why there are always some feelings to influence your choice
to a larger or smaller extent.
Where Do These Feelings Take You?
You already know that the experimental system works beyond your consciousness. How
do you think it can decide which decisions are beneficial for you and which are
not? When will it react with positive feelings and when will it try to discourage
you?
The experimental system resembles the decision making center in animals. While assessing
solutions, it favors the pleasant over the unpleasant. Its greatest priority though,
is to avoid dangers even at the expense of potential rewards. This should not come
as a surprise if we think that for thousands of years its basic objective has been
to help us survive...
This hedonistic motivation of the experimental system may result in certain dangers,
for example, while making long-term decisions. Every time you are about to make
an important decision, take some time to think whether the experimental system is
not giving you solutions which are suitable only at this very moment. Make sure
that your emotions do not block solutions which may prove more beneficial in the
future.
What Is The Basis of Emotions?
What do you think, how can an unaware mind assess experiences? Which information
does it accept as crucial while making a decision and which is only a useless detail?
This is a very complex matter but one thing needs to be understood: the experimental
system assesses experiences irrationally. What counts here is only information related
to strong emotions, something that is up-to-date and often used.
Why do so many people feel bad about flying a plane but hardly anyone feels the
same about driving a car? Do you think they are unaware that flying is safer? And
what if all the media hype about plane crashes constitutes a greater point of reference
for their experimental system than pure statistical data on car accidents? As you
can see the experimental system is poor help in making rational decisions...
How Do Feelings Influence Decisions?
The experimental system comes on automatically in a decision making situation. To
cut a long story short, the way it influences decisions can be described as follows:
- unaware mind looks for any relation between a decision making situation and experience
gathered in long-term memory,
- the emotional part transfers its observations to the rational one,
- we consciously shape our final decision, taking into consideration a lot of information,
emotions being a great part of it.
In theory every decision made must be consciously accepted, but…Conscious decision
making means effort related, among others, to the necessity to find and process
information. Feelings, on the other hand, appear independently and in most cases
seem adequate. This has taught us to treat them as readily available and reliable
tips while making decisions. Rarely do we analyze their sources as well as their
reliability, which means that we trust them even if the experimental system simply
cannot make correct conclusions. This may happen, for example, in situations when
do not have enough experience, a basic source of information for the experimental
system.
How To Avoid Pitfalls While Making Decisions?
If it happens that you are guided by feelings in making important business decisions,
you should definitely broaden your knowledge of the psychology of decision making.
The books I recommend below include many descriptions of human psychological weaknesses
in decision making processes as well as examples and tips for decision makers. It
goes without saying that it is impossible to discuss the whole issue in one article,
that's why I think it is a good idea to read at least one recommended book. This
will help you recognize situations in which there is a great risk of a psychological
pitfall and teach you how to walk away unscathed from it. I am sure it will help
you avoid mistakes and make your choices more rational.
It does not matter which one you take. I have read all of them and know that each
focuses on similar problems of the psychology of decision making. Simply choose
the one that suits you best.
Recommended Books