Do people choose happiness? Anticipated happiness affects both intuitive and deliberative decision-making

Abstract

People make choices among different options for different reasons. We hypothesized that people will choose the options that they believe will make them happier and that this effect of anticipated happiness on decision-making will be moderated by style of thinking (i.e., intuitive or deliberative). In a two-phase online experiment, 15 pairs of options were randomly presented one at a time, and participants indicated the extent to which each option would contribute to their happiness (i.e. anticipated happiness of a choice option). One week later, participants were randomly assigned to make choices on similar pairs of options either by using deliberative thinking or intuitive thinking. Results of a linear mixed-effects model analysis revealed that anticipated happiness influenced choices significantly. However, this occurred independent of whether participants made the choice in a deliberative or in an intuitive mindset. The implications of these findings for understanding the association between decision-making and happiness are discussed.

Happier and further by going together: The importance of software team behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Nevertheless, satisfaction comes with decision-making and the level of challenge within the work environment [ 30 ]. Given the importance people attach to happiness, it is reasonable to expect that decisions that people make are driven mainly by the anticipated happiness that decision would bring, which we refer to as the anticipated happiness utility of the choice [ 65 ]. Surprisingly, in the middle of an unprecedented pandemic, challenges and opportunities to engage in decision-making seem to bring happiness to software engineers, as corroborated by our population index.…”

Modelling social norms: an integration of the norm-utility approach with beliefs dynamics

“…Another important process is psychological reactance, where individuals resist threats to their freedom, leading to oppositional behaviour or belief reinforcement [77][78][79]. Emotions also influence decision-making: fear promotes avoidance and conformity, and happiness drives behaviours with immediate rewards [80][81][82][83][84]. Emotions can both stem from and contribute to cognitive dissonance, and assist in understanding others' mental states.…”

Modeling social norms: an integration of the norm-utility approach with beliefs dynamics

“…Another important process is psychological reactance, where individuals resist threats to their freedom, leading to oppositional behavior or belief reinforcement [77][78][79]. Emotions also influence decision-making: fear promotes avoidance and conformity, and happiness drives behaviors with immediate rewards [80][81][82][83][84]. Emotions can both stem from and contribute to cognitive dissonance, and assist in understanding others' mental states.…”