15.301/310, Managerial Psychology Prof. Dan Ariely Lecture 5: Emotions and Self-Control (a dash “-“ indicates student responses) The topic today for 10 minutes is emotions. Then emotions and cognitions: What happens when we want to do something but we actually do something else. If I ask you how many of your decisions are driven by pros and cons vs. things that you like, what do you think would drive more decisions? -Gut -Long term decisions are more considered, short term decisions are more gut feelings. Even when you think you are making calculated decisions, many times you create the illusion you are taking pros and cons, but actually just end up with the gut decision. If you don’t know what you want, flip a coin. As soon as it is in the air, you will know what you want. I have asked many students how they pick MIT. The answers they give are not usually very thoughtful. Some say it was because of their parents, the reputation, etc. But most often, students come here to visit and love it or hate it. They base their decision on a first impression. Emotion is a big deal in decisions, not just in consumers but in everybody, and it is usually underplayed. Emotions are located in the center of the brain Darwin said there is a primitive system of emotion present in all mammals. It is the primary system that creates motivation for action. If an animal is in the jungle, they want to react immediately to a situation. Not, “Tiger! Should I run? Shouldn’t I run? What should I do?” Some say emotions are programs from history. They allow us to solve complex problems in a simple, fast way. (Slide) – Inside view of the brain. The amygdala has a big role in emotions. It relates to other systems, but it is an independent entity mostly. Today we will look at how the emotion system interacts with the long term, considered part of the brain, how we can screw up as individuals and as leaders of states. What do we know about emotions from our experience? -Emotions have different levels, and they differ depending on experiences.-There are different types of emotion. If you break up, you might cry for days. If you do badly on test, you are not upset as long. How many of you have experienced an emotion in the past week? What else do you know about emotions? -Mostly involuntary -Hard to describe in factual terms -Sometimes rational, sometimes not, independent of reasoning -Repressed -Related to sleep, other things Not necessarily the thing that might evoke them. Emotions: causes or outcomes? What do you think about the idea of evolutionary psychology - Emotions as programs created to help us do things fast? They just run, and once they start, they are executed. If this is the role of emotions, what is the role of interpretation? Tiger, afraid, run? Not efficient. Tiger, run? Better. Tiger, run, afraid: Am I afraid because I run? Emotions are automatic programs. Start it, and it runs. There is almost no way to interrupt them. You can reboot the system, but… There is some evidence for this view. In one experiment, they got people to come to the lab. Then they said the location had changed, it would be on the 8th floor. To some, they said the elevator was broken, so they had to run up the stairs. The people who ran liked the experiment better – their hearts were pounding. They people interpreted their physical state as an emotion. -are you trying to distinguish emotions vs. instincts? I am not going to do this, it is very complex, very difficult. Stimuli -> run: instinct Emotion: our interpretation of what is done. Qualia: subjective experience of emotions. Are emotions useful? If you were designing another species, would you give them emotions? Why do we need fear, hatred, love? -inspiration to do greater things -seems like emotion is a program for what we should do in life, like Marx. We all love at some point. 15.301/310, Managerial Psychology Lecture 5 Prof. Dan Ariely Page 2 of 9Plans for what to do in the future – we need to have emotions to transfer into plans – avoid tigers? I am going to skip a couple things (slides) This is cute. If people hold pencil in their mouths across or straight out, the people holding the pencil across are happier – they are smiling! If you push on something, you then interpret it as bad. If you pull on it, it is better. People interpret physical aspects with internal states. The most interesting study – people wore headphones, and were asked to nod or shake their heads frequently in order to check the headphones. Then they were asked if they agree with the statement said through the headphones – nodders agreed more than shakers. Is it better to use emotions or to think? -Think: it is at a higher level on the intelligence scale -It depends on the situation. If you need to react quickly, emotion is better. What about when you don’t have to react fast. Is thinking always better? Emotion gives a quick answer. You can’t reason about emotions. It is not clear that the 2 systems are talking in the same language. Often, they have separate outcomes. Sometimes thinking more helps – thinking about consequences. Sometimes thinking too much can make us choose the wrong action. Wilson and Schooler: Jams or poster choice for students – choose between posters, or choose between types of jam. Some were just asked to make a choice. Others were asked to write pros and cons first, then choose. Later the experimenters saw if jam was left, or if the chosen poster was hanging. They showed that people who thought more about the decision were less happy. Do you consume a poster? No – you have an emotional reaction. Jam is the same. For those things, it is better to make an emotional decision. It is best to have as similar a situation as possible to the consumption conditions when you are making the choice. 15.301/310, Managerial Psychology Lecture 5 Prof. Dan Ariely Page 3 of 9This was a short introduction to emotions. Now we are going to make you happy. How? Any idea? We are going to give you Amazon gift certificates. We have $50 Amazon give certificates. Some of you will get them, we are going to have a quick auction. Here is what will happen: (passes out papers) Flip them over, we will start when we finish passing them out. Bid on the Amazon certificates according to the directions. First, hot and cold states.