Complex decisions are best left to your unconscious mind to work
out, according to a new study, and over-thinking a problem could lead
to expensive mistakes.

The
research suggests the conscious mind should be trusted only with simple
decisions, such as selecting a brand of oven glove. Sleeping on a big
decision, such as buying a car or house, is more likely to produce a
result people remain happy with than consciously weighing up the pros
and cons of the problem, the researchers say.

Thinking
hard about a complex decision that rests on multiple factors appears to
bamboozle the conscious mind so that people only consider a subset of
information, which they weight inappropriately, resulting in an
unsatisfactory choice. In contrast, the unconscious mind appears able
to ponder over all the information and produce a decision that most
people remain satisfied with

Ap
Dijksterhuis at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and
colleagues recruited 80 people for a series of lab-based and
“real-world” tests. The participants were provided with information and
asked to make decisions about simple and complex purchases, ranging
from shampoos to furniture to cars.

Snap decisions

In
one of the tests, half of the participants were asked to ponder on the
information they were given and then decide which among similar
products to buy. The other half were shown the information but then
made to perform a series of puzzles including anagrams and simple
arithmetic. At the end of the puzzle session, the participants were
asked to make a snap decision about the products.

“We
found that when the choice was for something simple, such as purchasing
oven gloves or shampoo, people made better decisions – ones that they
remained happy with – if they consciously deliberated over the
information,” says Dijksterhuis.

“But
once the decision was more complex such as for a house, too much
thinking about it led people to make the wrong choice. Whereas, if
their conscious mind was fully occupied on solving puzzles, their
unconscious could freely consider all the information and they reached
better decisions.”

By Gaia Vince