The Effects Of Moods And Emotions On Decision Making Process – A Qualitative Study

The current study investigates the effects of moods and emotions on decision making process. For this purpose, we conducted a qualitative study by interviewing 12 managers working in large companies in Bihor county. Our fidings point out the main effects the mood and emotions have on the decision making process. Of the themes that emerged from the analyzed interviews, three hold particular significance. First, moods and emotions are interfering with managers’ ability to process information, specificaly, negative moods and emotions diminises the ability of the managers to process information, while positive moods and emotions lead to a greater ability to process information. Related with this issue, the second theme reffers to the effects of moods and emotion to the making decision time. The main aspect we have pointed out here is that while negative emotions lead to increased decision-making time, positive emotions have a contrary effect. Third, positive moods and emotions lead the manager to make a decision being controled by his/her heart not by t his/her mind. On the other hand, the decisions made by managers being influenced by negative moods and emotions are mostly controled by their mind, not by their heart. We conclude that mood and emotions play a central role in managers’ decision-making. That is why a manager should have a high emotional quotient (EQ) in order to correctly identify which events caused their emotions and manage them so that not to have negative effects on decision making process. We presented, on the one hand, a few ways to reduce the unwanted effects of emotions on decision making and, on the other hand, a few ways to develop and cultivate positive emotions. However, we underlined the idea that it is not a good thing a manager to make an important decision when he/she is deeply influenced by his/her moods and emotions.