Stress and Long-Term Thinking
Stress can make you more likely to base
decisions on short-term, instead of long-term, consequences.
Sometimes in our lives we are forced to make choices that have good
immediate consequences but bad long-term consequences. For example, if you continuously stay up
late to work on projects at the last minute you finish the projects on time (a
good immediate consequence) but suffer from sleep deprivation over time (a bad
long-term consequence). Or you may sit
in an uncomfortable chair at work all day and avoid taking stretch breaks to
get more work done, only to feel very stiff and sore at the end of the
week. When under stress are we more
likely to make decisions based on their immediate or long-term
consequences? A researcher from Harvard
University explored how stress affects the way people make decisions with
positive short-term but negative long-term consequences.
What was the research about?
Across two studies, 32 Harvard University students viewed a slide show that
they controlled. To simulate a sense of
stress and negative emotion, some participants viewed very aversive pictures during
the slide show. Other participants only
saw neutral pictures during the slide show.
Participants were told they would receive a certain amount of money for
each slide they viewed during the 10-minute slide show. Thus the more slides they advanced through
the more money they would make.
Participants advanced to the next slide by pushing one of two buttons on
a control box. One button represented
“good immediate but bad long-term consequences” because it allowed participants
to quickly advance the next slide, but it also slowed down the advance of later
slides. The other button represented
“bad immediate but good long-term consequences” because it slowed down the
advance of the next slide but sped up the advance of later slides. Results showed that participants who were
stressed by viewing the aversive slides, earned less money than participants
who viewed the neutral slides. The
stressed participant’s also chose the “good immediate but bad long-term consequences”
button on the control box much more than the non-stressed participants. The second study found the same results
comparing a group of students who reported high stress levels because of
upcoming exams to a group who had low stress levels.
Why should it matter to me?
We all get stressed at times and may make decisions we end up regretting
down the road. To help avoid making
these kinds of decisions under stress, people need to take time to think
through the long-term consequences of their choices instead of exclusively
focusing on short-term consequences.
This may help reduce stress levels in the long run, even if it does not
immediately impact them.
Source: Gray, J. (1999) A bias toward short-term thinking in threat-related
negative emotional states. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25,
65-75.
