How We Really Make Decisions
From the moment our alarm clocks ring in the morning until the moment we head to bed, we have to make countless decisions. Should I take the bus to work today or walk? Should I eat the tempting hamburger or the healthy salad for lunch? Should I muster up your energy to workout or just watch another movie? Though we make decisions often, we don’t always tend to make the best ones. Those who study social behavior for a living, are often puzzled by the unexpected irrationality of humans.
Studies show that there are two main systems we use to make decisions. One is a quicker, more unconscious mechanism for decision making. The other uses a longer, more thought out process that weighs the multiple risks and benefits that come from the decision. The former is usually used under time constraints and employs impulsive instincts. The latter tends to be the more logical process of the two.
While reading about the two different systems, you might already be associating yourself with using one of them more than the other. In other words, there are people who consider themselves to value reason over emotions and there are others who are more emotionally driven. However, even those that consider themselves to be logical make more of their decisions based on their emotions than they realize. This is because of how humans interpret the facts and statistics used to draw those logical conclusions in the first place.
People have a tendency, known as loss aversion, to weigh the risks of situations as more unappealing than its benefits are appealing, even if the facts tell them that there are more benefits. For example, consider a person who buys stocks from company x, company y and company z. One year, company x’s stocks dropped $500, while two companies’ stocks went up the same amount. Most people might consider this year to be a terrible year for that person's stocks because they lost $500, even though they also gained $1000. In this way, people can end up shying away from decisions that experts might advise them to make because of the disproportionate way they view risks.
Another way people tend to misuse information is by basing their decisions on how quick a fact comes to mind. For instance, studies show that sharks are rarely aggressive towards humans, however, most people will be quick to remember the rare shark attack stories they heard on the news before the actual statistics for how common a shark attack is. This causes a relatively unreasonable attitude towards sharks. Likewise, people can end up using the stereotypical information they already know to make irrational decisions, rather than digging deeper for the more relevant facts.
Considering these facts, it can be safe to say that humans often think subjectively. But this doesn’t mean that people are incapable of making good decisions. In fact, being aware of such inclinations towards bias can be useful. When making decisions you can take the time to deliberately activate your longer and more considerate decision making system and make sure you are using it as unbiasedly as possible. You can inspect statistics and facts through a more knowledgeable and prepared lens and become an expert at decision making.
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