Realistically
weighing up different options might be the weakest link when making a decision.
A psychology graduate has identified
that I may have underestimated what is needed to compare options when following
my five steps to making a decision [1]
Following a conversation we
agreed there are two main influences when making a decision:
- Why
we do it – an “individual moral code” to desire a particular behaviour
- How
we do it – our “self-efficacy” to successfully conduct that behaviour
She advised that the
motivation to make a decision which results in change is heavily influenced by
emotional factors. For many people she treats, the perceived likelihood of
failure can be a primary determinant for whether a decision is made for the
better, or at all.
This value of
self-preservation is reflected in stockmarket trends where the risk of feeling
regret for buying shares that tank, compared to the reward for buying shares
that grow is primarily influenced more by emotions than rationale [2].
Buying shares to make money
might not be the best analogy for behaviour change though. When the
conversation turned to exercise habits the ball was in my court to talk about
what is really needed to get people to change.
If people know they should,
why don’t they?
From my experience and
research [3] as an Accredited Exercise Physiologist, educating people about why
they should exercise doesn’t work to change behaviour. The reason: it doesn’t
help people to build their capacity or “self-efficacy” to successfully perform
the action. Spouting about the reduction in risk of cardiac disease through
nitric oxide induced vasodilation following 20 minutes of light to moderate
physical activity does nothing to help when you are walking in the rain, your
feet hurt and there is no social enjoyment.
This is where the power of
self-efficacy reigns supreme. Having role models, the right equipment, a
supportive environment and a history of smaller achievements reinforce competence.
From what I have seen, doing an activity (the how) has much more bearing on
actually doing it compared to weighing up all of the reasons and values relating
to why it should be done in the first place.
The approach I take is to reduce
the threshold for success to increase confidence, then build on it. From a
psychological perspective though some work may need to be done first to discover
personal values. Although even then the perception of what behaviour will makes
us feel happy vs distress of often far from accurate.
According to the oracle
that is TED, humans are bad at making decisions [4]. The negative impact of
making a change is overestimated in the short term, and the positive impact is underestimated
in the long term.
This is reflected in a
study of people who win lottery vs become paraplegic [5]. A review of each
group one year after living with the change measured their level of happiness
to be much the same. Asking people how happy they expect they would be one year
after each experience demonstrates a perception vastly different to the actual
result.
Why vs how balance depends
on an individuals background. When we know the outcome will be poor why do we keep
behaving that way? Sometimes the barrier to changing for the better might be
out of an individuals control such as the environment, or genetics.
Also the way that happiness
is synthesised can influence decision making [6]. To the contrary of my
intention of this entire blog, it is possible that having the option to make a
decision will only result in less happiness!
Ultimately though we need
to make decisions. There are differences in the way people weigh up options,
and it may be the case that strong values can overcome the need for knowing how
to accomplish a goal. This is an element I intend to explore further, including
the influence of personality on the perception of decision outcomes.
What matter more to you;
knowing what you want (why), or your level of confidence that you can get it (how)?
References
[1] How I make decisions,
Joel Penson. Better Decisions Blog.
[2] Emotional theory in the
stockmarket, David Ingram.
[3] Illawarra Healthy
Hearts Project (see acknowledgements page iii).
[4] The paradox of choice, Barry
Schartz. TED talks.
[5] Does winning the
lottery make you happier? New Republic.
[6] To simplify, Glenn
Morrissette.
http://www.tosimplify.net/2012/11/synthesizing-happiness.html
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