Effect of Emotions on Human Behavior and Rational Decision Making

 By Faheem Akhter

“Emotions determine the quality of our lives.” Paul Ekman.

Making right decisions at right time with controlled emotions is an art. I made so many wrong decisions in my life. Result of which gave me despair, stress, regrets and baffles. It was the time when I had no emotional awareness about dealing with the complicated situations and making intricate judgments. Anger and stress were in my genes. They always hurt me with embarrassment and distress. This trembling behavior made me think of myself, and possible solutions of this disastrous condition. This emotional behavior was a weak part of my life, so it was necessary to fix it.

Emotions play a vital role in making any decision. It’s been observed that hot tempered person takes irrational decisions. At this particular moment when Intensity of emotions can override rational decision making, all the doors of brain are closed, senses and emotion go out of control. And eventually, we take those steps which we had never intended. This is the moment where we have to control our body, brain, senses and emotions.

I started researching about emotions. Too many questions arose in my mind, like,

How to control intensity of emotions?

How to deal with anger and stress?

How to resolve any conflict in a condition of stress?

How to convert negative energy of emotions into positive energy?

And Finally I succeeded in finding out answers of my questions which irritated me all the time. I am going to present step by step in this article.

After reading different books and research papers on Emotions, I have come up to the conclusion that there are two types of emotions.

Negative  Emotions

Positive Emotions

Negative emotions are in the result of uncontrolled stress and anger. These emotions affect our brain and senses, resulting irrational decision making. This is of course going to hurt oneself and to all the people in surroundings. What we have to do in such a critical situation is, to control the intensity of these negative emotions and to convert them into the positive energy/ Positive Emotions.

Once you have confidence in your ability to safely experience any of your emotions, you can think, plan, and engage in a wide range of intellectual activities without completely losing touch with the physical sensations in your body that signal your emotional state.

Lot of research is done by various researchers on the emotions. Many methods are presented to convert negative emotions to positive. One method I am going to present in this article which changed my life and helped me to overcome the intensity of negative emotions.

Here are five key skills, which help in reducing stress and control intensity of emotions and help in effective decision making,

•  Skill 1: The ability to quickly reduce stress.
•  Skill 2: The ability to recognize and manage your emotions.
•  Skill 3: The ability to connect with others using nonverbal communication.
•  Skill 4: The ability to use humor and play to deal with challenges.
•  Skill 5: The ability to resolve conflicts positively and with confidence.

Skill 1: The ability to quickly reduce stress.

Remain calm and attentive. Calmness is more than just feeling relaxed. Being attentive helps finding out the balance needed to withstand stress.

Sit down if you are in standing position, and stay focused to the solution of the problem.

Utilize your senses to observe that what makes you comfortable in such a situation. through sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. But each person responds differently to sensory input, so you need to find things that are soothing to you.

Express your feelings instead of bottling them up.

Be willing to compromise.

Be more assertive.

Look at the big picture.

Focus on the positive.

Learn to forgive.

Keep your sense of humor.

Skill 2: The ability to recognize and manage your emotions.

You can’t manage emotions until you know how to manage stress.

Tolerate strong feelings, including anger, sadness, fear, disgust, and joy.

Pay attention to your emotions and use them to guide your decisions.

Be sensitive to the emotions of others.

Shut down or shut out intense emotions.

Skill 3: The ability to connect with others, using nonverbal communication.

Accurately read other people, including the emotions they’re feeling and the unspoken messages they’re sending.

Create trust and transparency in relationships by sending nonverbal signals that match up with your words.

Respond with nonverbal cues that show others that you understand, notice, and care.

Skill 4: The ability to use humor and play to deal with challenges.

Laughter has a powerful effect on your health and well-being. A good laugh relieves tension and stress, elevates mood, enhances creativity and problem-solving ability, and provides a quick energy boost.

Make sure both partners are in on the joke

Use humor to defuse conflict

Don’t use humor to cover up other emotions

Skill 5: The ability to resolve conflicts positively and with confidence.

• Managing and resolving conflict requires emotional maturity, self-control, and empathy.
• Maintaining and strengthening the relationship, rather than “winning” the argument, should always be your first priority. Be respectful of the other person and his or her viewpoint.
• Focus on Present.
• Resolving conflict is impossible if you’re unwilling or unable to forgive. 
• By avoiding disrespectful words and actions, you can resolve the problem faster.
• When you’re in control of your emotions, you can communicate your needs without threatening, frightening, or punishing others.

These are the outlines from different research papers and books; I have tried to present few important points which helped me recognizing myself, my emotions and how to deal in trembling situations.

References: Do emotions help or hurt decision making? By Kathleen D. Vohs, Roy F. Baumeister, George Loewenstein

Emotional intelligence (EQ) by Jeanne Segal, Ph.D., Melinda Smith, M.A., and Robert Segal, M.A., Ellen Jaffe-Gill, M.A

Emotions Revealed by Paul Ekman