Research: An intuitive decision feels better

We do numerous small decisions in everyday life. Is it worth it to save time and get a quick semi-prepared food from the grocery store for the evening or start cooking properly? Should you go for a walk before or after dinner?

Just making a decision in itself improves mood, says published in the journal Emotion research. In addition, the style of decision-making matters.

The decision can be made roughly in two ways: either by careful weighing or intuitively. Of these, according to research, an instinctive decision improves the mood more than a decision made after consideration and analysis.

Professor of clinical psychology and psychotherapy at the German University of Potsdam Carina Remmers and his colleagues found out with the help of 256 subjects.

For the participants were initially told about their decision-making styles, and then they reported on their everyday decisions for two weeks.

Participants used an app that randomly instructed them to make a decision either analytically or intuitively.

Participants reported a total of 6,779 decisions, of which about half were intuitive and half were analytical.

Intuitive decisions were more likely to be implemented than analytical ones. They also led to greater pleasure, and the chosen option felt more pleasant.

When several options were available, the mood improved more in decision-making and satisfaction increased.

“This is the first empirical evidence that instinctuality has beneficial effects in everyday life,” the researchers write. They have obtained similar results before too.

Published in Tiede magazine 14/2024