How Do Your Emotions Impact Your Decisions?
Have you ever noticed how your emotional state can either slow down or speed up your decision-making? This is normal and linked to somatic markers, the reactions that occur in your body when you visualize the consequence of a possible choice. One example is experiencing stomach pain when you anticipate a negative result. These sensations work as signals, or red lights, that are detected by your brain.
Okay, so can emotions help with good decision-making?
Yes. Emotions, such as fear or anger, are catalysts to make you take action when you hesitate or find it difficult to start. In this context, they're motivating choices.
Some Examples of Emotions in Action
In these two situations, emotions facilitate action:
Your manager no longer copies you in on projects that concern you. You stayed calm and didn't say anything the first few times, but being repeatedly excluded enrages you. Your anger gives you the courage to tell your supervisor why you're unhappy and explain how this can be resolved.
You win an offer to collaborate on a project and must present your ideas to the management committee. You're anxious about being center stage, which leads you to prepare your speech and build a solid pitch carefully. The fear of failure causes you to work harder, which will help you deliver a more confident pitch to the committee.
Of course, emotions can also inhibit decision-making. For example, the fear of making mistakes can become paralyzing. Here are some other examples to illustrate this idea:
You have to recruit an additional resource for your sales team. Your choices have been wrong twice before. The fear of making a third mistake will prevent you from making a decision.
You need to update the PCs in your department. You get on really well with your current supplier and always look forward to meeting with the charming sales representative. However, this makes you lose all critical sense and you go way beyond your initial purchasing budget.
Ana Thorsdottir knows what it’s like to work with emotions daily. Let’s hear her opinion on the connections between emotions and decision-making.
It's Your Turn!
Here's a short activity to help you become aware of the impact your thoughts and emotions have on your behavior. Follow the following two steps:
Step 1: Observe Your Thoughts, Emotions, and Behaviors
Take a moment to recall a professional situation that placed you in a difficult situation and answer the questions in the table below. Here's an example:
What was the situation? | What automatic thoughts arose? | How did you feel? What were your emotions? | How did you react? |
A conference call with the European managers of my team. | Talking puts me in danger. I'll lose my resources. | Stress Accelerated heart rate | I stand back and don't get involved. |
Step 2: Analyze the Situation Objectively and Make Friends With Your Emotions
Take a step back from this situation and try to see it from another angle: how would you have liked to handle it? What was your goal? What emotions would you need to achieve this goal?
Try approaching the situation in reverse. Make your goal the starting point to help you identify any emotions you could have used to achieve it.
What was your goal? | What emotions would you need to achieve it? | Behavior |
...
| ... | ... |
Let's Recap!
In this chapter, you learned that:
Your emotions directly impact your decision-making: they complement the rational approach.
They can have a motivating or inhibiting effect through somatic markers.
You can make friends with your emotions. The first step is to observe the role your emotions have on your daily decision-making then reflect on how you might tame those emotions to achieve a better result.
In the next chapter, you'll explore another cognitive mechanism: the shortcuts your brain uses to make decisions quickly. So let's go!
