Psychological Reasons Why You Make Poor Decisions
How many decisions do you think you make on an average day?
In the tens, hundreds, or perhaps thousands?
Probably even more.
Every decision you make may cause a short, middle, or long-term impact on your life.
Some decisions may be critical and may yield a long-term repercussion.
Example: your decision to get married, go to college, or travel.
Whereas some decisions are trivial, and their impact may not be much felt, for instance, choosing coffee or cocoa, chocolate or strawberries, watching a favorite TV show or visiting the stadium.
The Psychology of Decision Making
From a psychological perspective, your decisions are formed from opinions and actions through mental processes which are influenced by biases, reasons, emotions and memories.
You can only make excellent decisions when you think critically while looking for all potential sources of information with an open mind.
Facts, rather than intuition, can influence your decisions.
Why People Make Poor Decisions
Have you ever made a really poor decision, like one that you know deep down is a bad idea but still do it anyway?
It might not be an accident – psychologists are coming to understand that there are certain psychological reasons behind poor decision-making, and they’re not always what we’d expect.
Let’s explore the many psychological reasons humans make poor decisions, from alcohol consumption to not wearing a seatbelt or engaging in a fight:
1. Being too optimistic.
There is a natural tendency of everyone being overly optimistic about deciding, and you’re no exception.
This may be because of our inherent belief that bad things happen to others, but not us.
Remember how you’re quick to find faults from one’s actions or inactions when misfortunes or something unpleasant happens to them?
This blame attitude reduces our fears about something happening to us.
Tali Sharot says that this as the “optimism bias, or our tendency to overestimate the likelihood of experiencing good events while underestimating the likelihood of experiencing terrible events.”
2. Analysis paralysis.
Analysis paralysis is an inability to decide because of overthinking a problem.
The reason you make poor decisions sometimes may be because you take too much time more than necessary to analyze the problem.
Instead of moving on with the decision, you rather get caught up in the analysis loop.
This will cause you to miss most relevant opportunities.
Analysis paralysis can affect your decision to choose which investment or insurance package to opt for.
It always occurs when there are several alternatives to consider or if the available parameters are too vague.
3. Emotions.
Your mood or emotions sometimes strongly influence the type of decisions you make.
Resist the temptation of making key decisions when you’re angry or emotionally keyed up.
You’re more likely to make a wrong decision when you’re extremely happy, sad, anxious, or intimidated.
All decisions are emotional.
If you feel riled up, make sure you don’t have your credit card out.
4. Decision fatigue.
The reason you make a lot of poor decisions may be because of repeated exertion of your brain.
Ensure that you make most of the important decisions of your life when you have higher energy levels.
Psychologists have noticed that decision fatigue can lead to an inability to make further decisions, make wrong decisions, impulse buying, and more.
You have more willpower and mental strength in the morning than in the evening.
Maisie Williams once said, “People go down dangerous paths and they make poor decisions, but it’s always justified in their head.”
For every decision you make, you will definitely live to see the consequence, beneficial or detrimental.
Negative decisions can affect your finances, health, education, relationship, or even your life goals.
For your best results, consistently making excellent decisions is something you must develop as a habit in your everyday activities.
If you liked this post make sure to go check out:
9 Types of Mental Clutter and Triggers Keeping You Unhappy
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Thank you.