Trump is making bad COVID-19 decisions due to stress.

People make bad decisions when they are under stress.  Chronic stress impairs memory consolidation and retrieval.  Since we rely on our memories of past decisions - especially bad decisions - in order to make sure we don't make the same mistake again, this is a big problem. (Morgado, Sousa & Cerqueira, 2015)

Meanwhile any stress at all changes loss-aversion patterns and causes people to make riskier decisions  This is because when we are stressed, the portion of our brains responsible for long-term planning shuts down.  And the portions of the brain responsible for short-term gratification take over.  That's why we eat junk food when we are stressed. (Maier, Makwana & Hare, 2015)

Unfortunately, Trump's stress is leading him to make poor life threatening decisions - like lifting quarantine before COVID-19 infections have even peaked.  Talk about favoring immediate gratification over long term goals.  Does he really believe that restarting the economy is worth millions of American lives?  Maybe.  

Or maybe he just needs a Big Mac.

Morgado, P., Sousa, N., & Cerqueira, J.J. (2015) The Impact of Stress in Decision Making in the Context of Uncertainty.  Journal of Neuroscience Research.  Retrieved March 26, 2020, from

https://repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt/bitstream/1822/51412/1/morgado%2C%20j%20neurosci%20res%2C%202015.pdf

Maier, S., Makwana, A. & Hare, T. (2015, August 5)  Acute Stress Impairs Self-Control in Goal-Directed Choice by Altering Multiple Functional Connections within the Brain’s Decision Circuits. Neuron  Retrieved June 5 2018 from https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(15)00627-3

Which decision-making short cut is your favorite?

Making decisions is exhausting.  And research has shown that when we have to make too many decisions we become tired.  As a result we tend to make poorer decisions as the day goes on.  It's called decision-making fatigue and it's the reason why you should make all of your most important decisions earlier in the day.  (Tierney, 2011)

But since we can't always choose when we make a decision we sometimes have to make them when we are tired.  So what do we do then?  We look for a shortcut of course.

There are several to choose from. 

A common one is to settle for a recommended option.  This is why after you buy that expensive iPhone you say yes when they ask if you want to buy insurance, even though buying insurance is usually not the best decision.

Another shortcut is to simply make a snap decision on impulse.  This is why you end up reaching for a candy bar when you are stressed.  Your brain shuts off long-term goals and fires up short term gratification, and you react accordingly.

Since most decisions are complex and involve multiple variables sometimes we try to make it easier on ourselves by just considering one dimension.  This happens often with voting.  We become one issue voters and pick candidates based on where they stand on that one issue and ignore any other positions they take - even if we don't agree with them.

Similarly we can let someone else decide for us.  When we do that we are assuming of course that the person we let decide is an authority on the matter at hand.  But sometimes we misjudge.

Which leads to the final shortcut - doing nothing.

Yes, sometimes we choose to do nothing.  But even that is doing something since you are choosing to maintain the status quo in the face of changing circumstances.

Which brings us back to the original question - which decision-making shortcut is your favorite?  And is using it helping you to make good decisions or bad ones?

Tierney, J. (2011, August 17)  Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue?  nytimes.com.  Retrieved March 20, 2019, from

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/magazine/do-you-suffer-from-decision-fatigue.html?_r=0