"Decide with your mind or decide with your heart". We are used to establishing this dichotomy when, according to experts, the best decisions are always made by tuning logic with emotion, intuition with experience.
Written and verified by the psychologist GetPersonalGrowth.
Last update: 15 November 2021
Emotional decisions and rational or logical decisions… Are they different? We often tell ourselves that it is better to make some decisions with a cool head and not with the heart. It is as if we had to confront each day with two mental visions capable of completely mediating our reality.
In a way it is just like that. No one acts or decides only through their emotions or through the exclusive filter made up of the coldest, most objective and reasonable logic. Our brain is actually a hyper-connected organ, where each area and structure is linked to the others.
This is how the prefrontal cortex (linked to more complex executive functions, based on analysis, attention or reflection) maintains a constant connection with the deeper areas of the brain linked to emotions. In this way, the world of affections and feelings is present in every decision and, in turn, the imprint of emotions is found in every thoughtful and reasoned choice. For this reason it is difficult, if not almost impossible, to distinguish between emotional and rational decisions.
Now, despite the existence of this bridge in which information passes continuously between one sphere and another, there is a particularity that we cannot ignore. Emotions always take priority. The human being is above all an emotional creature and this often leads us to a crossroads.
"Perhaps the most indispensable thing we can do as human beings every day of our lives is to remind ourselves and others of our complexity, fragility, finitude and uniqueness."
- Antonio R. Damasio - Decisions
Emotional decisions and rational decisions
Emotional decisions have a bad reputation. It is as if, by letting ourselves be carried away by that first impulse, by a need (presumably not motivated) or by intuition, we will be doomed to error. However, and ironic as it may seem, much of the choices we make in our daily lives are mediated precisely by these emotions, which guide us and almost completely direct our behavior.
Let's face it, emotional decisions don't necessarily lead to a mistake. Emotions are catalysts in our relationships, they push us to connect with people and they also allow us to make choices in different areas so that tastes, personalities and needs are in tune.
Emotions, after all, just want our homeostasis, they guarantee our inner balance and, of course, our survival. Furthermore, there is already a trend in the academic world that invites us to correct a false and outdated idea, namely the fact that emotional decisions are linked to irrational acts.
Studies such as those conducted at Columbia University by Dr. Michel Puan indicate that we must stop conceiving of emotions and rationality as separate spheres. In other words, the emotions can also be logical and rational.
Of course, there are some obvious exceptions. There are times when we make decisions based on adverse emotional states. These are the moments when there is no internal homeostasis, but rather an unresolved problem, a need, an unsatisfied need that leads us to make bad choices. Let's deepen this aspect.
Emotional states that push you to make decisions you can regret
We need to be clear: the best decisions are made by combining logic and emotion. Therefore, and for that pact between one and the other to be effectively realized, we need our emotions to be positive, to play in our favor. But this doesn't always happen, because sometimes we find ourselves in emotional states that block us, that limit our mental concentration. Are the following:
- Sadness. If we make a decision while we are sad, bored or melancholy, we are likely to settle for the bare minimum., that is, we will tend not to be particularly demanding of ourselves.
- Excitement. Generally, even when we feel injected with joy, overflowing enthusiasm, excited by emotion, do we make the best decisions. In these cases, in fact, we let ourselves be carried away by impulsiveness.
- Anxiety. Anxiety, stress, and any mood disturbances make it even more difficult to make a decision. Not only do we make decisions that we can regret later, but it is also more difficult for us to think, evaluate, reflect, etc.
Starting from logic and reason, emotional decisions are the most correct
As the famous scientist Antonio Damasio points out, emotions do not represent the dark side of reason. Indeed, they are an indispensable part of every decision we make and, therefore, we must be fully aware of them.
If we understand them, we manage them, if we are able to face the challenges that pose us in moments of despair or worry, emotions will be our best allies.
Emotional and rational decisions are the beats that mark our steps. It is true that some will be ineffective, while others will be more successful, but it is extremely important not to act impulsively. Rather, we need to tune needs with desires, experience with intuition. Emotion and reason can never go separately, they are the engines that bring us closer to our happiness.
