Why you should go with your gut

news@nature.com ^ | 16 February 2006 | Helen Pearson

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Published online: 16 February 2006; | doi:10.1038/news060213-9

Why you should go with your gut

Study says unconscious consideration yields most satisfying decisions.

Helen Pearson

Which would you choose? Studies say you should list the pros and cons, then sleep on it.© Punchstock

The best way to make a tough decision is to put your feet up and think about something else. So says an investigation of people shopping for cars, clothes and furniture.

Many people assume that the best way to tackle a difficult choice is to list the pros and cons and ponder them deeply. Others believe we do better to sleep on it, leaving the decision-making to our unconscious, or intuition.

A team of researchers at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, carried out a series of studies to distinguish between these ideas. In one experiment, university students read a list of features about four different cars, such as facts on their mileage and legroom, before deciding which car to pick.

The experiment was set so that some students were presented with a short list of features, making for a simple decision, while others faced a bafflingly long list of 12 competing characteristics. Some students were left to think about their decisions for a few minutes, whereas others were distracted by being asked to solve anagrams.

Don't think about it

For the simple decisions, students made better choices when they thought consciously about the problem. But for the more complex choice, they did better after not thinking about it, Ap Dijksterhuis and his colleagues report in Science¹. To carry this idea into the real world, the team also studied people who were shopping: either in an Amsterdam department store, where they bought straightforward clothes or kitchenware, or in IKEA, where they bought furniture, which one might expect to be a more complicated decision-making process. The team asked the shoppers whether they had thought hard about their purchase beforehand, and a few weeks later asked them whether they were happy with it.

These results confirmed the earlier ones. Department-store shoppers who made simple purchases were happier if they had thought consciously about their choice in advance. IKEA shoppers, on the other hand, were happier with their choice if they hadn't mulled them over.

At least when making some complicated decisions, such as choosing a car or house, the results suggest that we would actually do better to go with our gut.

The big picture

Researchers do not know exactly why this unconscious deliberation should be so successful. But it is well accepted that our conscious brain can only process a limited amount of information at one time. This could mean that we simply lose the big picture with complex decisions.

Dijksterhuis and his team also propose that, although we are unaware of it, our brains are churning through the mass of information involved in a complex decision and sifting out the best option.

The study ties in with a growing trend in psychology research over the past 15 years, suggesting that our unconscious mind is more important than we once thought. "A lot of complicated processes occur without our being aware of it," says Daniel Kahneman, an authority on decision making at Princeton University, New Jersey.

Snap decisions

The results might help to explain why experts, such as doctors or firemen, can sometimes make seemingly intuitive snap decisions that turn out to be correct. These people have a wealth of knowledge, but they don't need to consciously work through it to make an accurate judgement.

But the theory doesn't mean that going purely on impulse is a good idea: you still need some information to mull over before making your decision. Particularly when making potentially life-changing judgments such as whom to marry or which career to choose, experts say, study and deliberation are vital to reveal all the options open to us.

"I would not advise people to buy a car or house without making a list," Kahneman says. "You will probably improve your intuitions by making a list and then sleeping on it."

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References

1. Dijksterhuis A., et al. Science, 311 . 1005 - 1007 (2006).

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[B4Ranch]

I almost always go with my gut feelings. Sure I've missed a couple of opportunities but so far I have kept the bacon from catching fire and burning the house down.

[Monterrosa-24]

In military matter too, while I have respect for army staff work and weighing the "best course of action" many of the greatest commanders have been very instinctive.

MacArthur wrote of his Inchon decision that his staff was against it and had a myriad of reasons but he could hear his father's voice (his father was also a general and a Civil War Yankee hero) warning him of cowardice coming out of staff meetings. MacArthur decided Inchon was a go and it was an incredible success.

[LibKill]

I almost always go with my gut feelings. Sure I've missed a couple of opportunities but so far I have kept the bacon from catching fire and burning the house down.

When it comes to emergency, trust your instincts.

If it looks dangerous, it probably is so.

[JamesP81]

The problem I have is overanalyzing things. My gut feelings tend to be pretty good, but if even so much as start thinking about some important decision I start stressing out big time about what to choose. Once I do that, I can no longer tell my gut feelings from the stressing out. Which really sucks.

[Brad’s Gramma]

Sure I've missed a couple of opportunities...

Perhaps I could recommend some tap water? :)

[Dr.Zoidberg]

Any relatively sane and at least semi-intelligent individual in good health should always listen to their "Gut Instincts".

Regardless of how much we try to distance ourselves from the beasts (the whole creation/evolution argument not withstanding), we ARE animals. And animals have instincts to guide them when experience is insufficient to cover a given situation. Instincts honed through hundreds of generations of survivors living long enough to pass on their genetic materials.

In my personal experience, every single time I've gone against my "Gut", its ended with a much worse outcome than following my instincts would have brought.

You just have to have the self confidence to not second guess yourself. Something that has come to me much later in life than I would have liked.

As they say "With age..."

[Dr.Zoidberg]

Water on a bacon fire? Oh NO!

Salt or baking soda, and that is if you don't happen to have a handy fire extinguisher. Which no kitchen should be without!

Hehehe

[Brad’s Gramma]

You're taking all the FUN out of it here! Stop this! Now!

I insist! :)

[Dr.Zoidberg]

Stop this! Now!

I insist! :)

Yes Ma'am! I'm sorry Ma'am! Won't happen again Ma'am!



Hehehehe =-P~~~

[Brad’s Gramma]

Wipe that grin off your face or I'll wipe it off FOR you!

Ha!

[Dr.Zoidberg]

(tail tucked)

(Slinking off to a corner)

I was just funnin.....jeeze....

;-)

[Brad’s Gramma]

http://www.shopmetrospy.com/


I leave you with this linky dink for the night. DO read the letters of hate to the webmaster. Most enlightening.

[Brad’s Gramma]

I was too. Funnin' that is. I'm rarely serious......

:)

[Dr.Zoidberg]

Good to know. Serious people give me indigestion.

G'nite Brad's Gramma. =-)

[Brad’s Gramma]

Serious people give me indigestion.

Isn't THAT the truth? Good night to you too!!!

[Principle Over Politics]

Katie Couric does quite well with feelings and emotions.

I prefer Ann Coulter with thought and reason.

Think about it.

[Man50D]

One thing my father has always told me is if your head tells you one thing but your gut another, then go with your gut. This from a man who skipped two grades of school and graduated from high school at 15.

[neverdem]

Women's Health Studies Leave Questions in Place of Certainty

I tried to post that story twice. The last time it was yanked yet again. So be it

Marrow stem cells defeat Alzheimers

FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list. Anyone can post any unrelated link as they see fit.

[Terpfen]

MacArthur decided Inchon was a go and it was an incredible success.

The operation was a success, but it still shouldn't have happened, since it involved practically abandoning 8th Army.