Skip to content 
How Emotions Influence Our Decisions – Making Decisions Based On Emotions
We make hundreds of decisions every day, from the moment we get up until we finally go to bed. Besides our conscious decisions, we also make many unconscious ones.
Each of these decisions has a rational, as well as an emotional component. And these emotions play a bigger role than we realize because they are very often the true driving force behind our decisions. The emotional component can be so dominant that it outplays our rational convictions and leads us to make decisions that are disadvantageous for us.
We eat chocolate because it makes us feel happy, even though we want to lose weight and know that too much of it is unhealthy. We buy fashion items we don’t really need or the latest smartphone because we crave the feeling of being admired or to treat ourselves.
In this way, emotions unconsciously take control of our decisions.
Originally, our decisions are based on the interplay between logic and reason (left brain), and emotion and intuition (right brain).
The extent to which emotions can shape our decisions can be seen particularly well in advertising, movies, and the entertainment industry. Here, it is mainly our emotions that are addressed to make us buy products or steer us in a certain direction.
By focusing on emotions, the reasoning part is more and more neglected, which leads to an imbalance. In the long run, however, this imbalance always leads to inner conflicts and tensions. The heart (emotion) says yes but the mind says no, as we can see in the examples mentioned above. All too often we make decisions that are not beneficial for us.
We usually distinguish between emotional decisions, which come from the “gut” and rational decisions, which are “based on reason or logic”. However, our brain areas are connected in such a way that information is constantly exchanged between the emotions and logic parts. So in the best-case scenario, both parts play their role in any decision-making process.
To make better decisions in the future, it is important to become aware of these facts and consciously influence this imbalance already mentioned.
How Do Emotions Influence Our Decisions?
1 ) The direct influence
Emotions can directly influence our decision-making process. It doesn’t matter whether this happens consciously or unconsciously. For example, if you are feeling anxious about the possible outcome of a risky decision, you may choose a safer option, even though it may be less promising.
If you are angry with someone, you may consciously decide against their proposal, even though from a rational point of view you should actually agree.
Feelings of guilt towards a person may tempt you to agree to a proposal you are actually more averse to.
2 ) Transferred Emotions
In this case, emotions are carried over from one situation to another. This often happens unconsciously. Negative emotions can cause us to be biased and tend to be more pessimistic about things. For example, anger over a colleague’s mistake can lead us to also distrust other co-workers in certain tasks and therefore we decide to do them ourselves.
At the same time, being in a positive mood and feeling happy can directly transfer to other situations and result that we see things more optimistically and take more risky decisions.
3 ) Emotions as an information tool
Emotions can provide us with the information we need to better assess a situation. For example, fear or anxiety can give us the impulse to be vigilant in certain situations and to make decisions more deliberately.
Exuberant joy and too much composure can lead us to take riskier decisions. At the same time, they can also tempt us to superficial processing and approach things without due diligence, which can lead to mistakes.
4 ) Emotions trigger us to take action and create change.
Emotions trigger us to take action and get things done. For example, anger may create the desire to change the situation. Despair creates the desire to change our circumstances by seeking joy and reward, and can lead us to choose high-risk, high-reward options. Joy can lead us to be motivated and start things we have previously put off.
Emotions play a major role in almost all of our decisions. It does not matter whether we are aware of the emotions or not. But in fact, we can only avoid the undesirable effects of emotions on our decision-making if we mindfully deal with them.
This means we have the choice of whether we want to be the master of our emotions or rather be driven and controlled by them. Here are 7 tools and exercises to help master your emotions.
7 Tips To Control Emotions And Make Better Decisions:
1) Learn to be mindful of your emotions and feelings and categorize them.
2) Try to identify the often hidden message behind your emotions. Find out what triggers certain emotions in you.
3) Communicate your emotions to others in a way that they can understand how you feel.
4) Identify possible warning signals and information behind your emotions.
5) Recognize the message behind your emotion and use it as a resource for gaining insights to successfully shape your future.
6) Learn more about the 6 essential skills of decision-making.
7) Improve and train your emotion regulation, that is the ability to keep cool and calm even in the most difficult and challenging situations.
If you would like some guidance on this journey, you may want to take a look at these 7 tools and exercises. They will help you to surf the wave of emotions instead of being overrun by it. Always stay in control of your actions and take decisions wisely.
