Question

Question 3: When we make decisions, we are influenced by our emotions a) Explain the positive and negative effects of emotions in decision making. (b) Provide one (1) suitable example for each based on your experience that show: i. the positive effect of emotions; and ii. the negative effect of emotions in decision making

Answer 1

The positive and negative emotions have great effect on decision making. We will be more optimistic when we are in a mood of positive emotions and we would be clear about our goals which help to take decisions quickly. I have personally experienced this effect of positive emotions when got an opportunity to attend the interview conducted by my employer. I was so happy and excited to utilize the opportunity which helped me to take quick decisions during the interview process. But in the same time when we are under negative emotions, we would be under uncertainty and decision making becomes difficult. When I was very disappointed on my exam results it was very difficult for me to decide the next course to study as I was totally upset on my performance.

When we are under positive emotions we would be comfortable and would not like to lose the comfort by taking risks. The risky decisions would be less taken under positive emotions. When I received good performance rating I was under positive emotions of happiness and pride and I was offered a different role in the team. But I was not ready to take the role as I was in the fear of losing my comfort in my current position and thought if I am not able to perform well in the new role it will affect my current position. But when we are under negative emotions we would be ready to take risks as we are already facing some loss and do not mind going to further loss. When we are offered a role change in the organization under negative emotions of low performance rating, we would accept it as it provides an opportunity to perform better and if not performed well it will not affect the current position.

Another fact is that we may not analyze the information deeply while making decisions under positive emotions if we are over excited by the emotions. When I am under positive emotions I purchase the products without much thinking and some of them later proved to be a wrong decision. But under negative emotions we would try to analyze and process the information systematically which makes the decision making a lengthy process. We are under the feeling that the things are going wrong and would try to find the chances of faults in decision making. For example when we have already lost much amount and we are desperate we would not spend any more money without thinking and analyzing the requirement as well as the future effect.