Scientists warn against mental shortcuts and suggest taking a broader look at each circumstance.
By: Jessica Gou, Special to the star
Reasoning often falls second to emotion as logic comes after decisions to justify the purchase of a Disneyland fastpass, overpriced concert tickets, or a vote for a candidate who will not serve the country’s best interests.
Psychologists call these mental shortcuts behind quick decision-making “heuristics.” This strategy relies on generalizations which prevent cognitive overload or overthinking. Availability heuristics are a subset of the larger umbrella and take place when individuals make a decision based on the memories or information which comes easiest to mind.
For example, one might assume driving cars are safer than taking a plane because vivid images of a plane crash overpower the images of a car accident. In reality, the Civil Aviation Organization states the chances of dying on a commercial flight is one in 11 million while the chances of dying in a car crash are one in five thousand.
Availability heuristics may have played a role in Trump’s success. The republican’s use of nostalgia, ”Make America Great Again,” allowed memories of an idealized past to resurface. Given the choice between the already familiar Trump and a newer Harris, a subconscious bias may form amongst individuals who have already experienced a Trump presidency.
Harris on the other hand, who took over after Biden resigned from the race, failed to sway blue-collared voters as the incumbent had in the 2016 election. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, for example, had opted not to endorse a party despite backing Democrats since 2000. Many workers frustrated with globalization and other policies expressed their discontent through voting Trump. In a sense, they had voted for Trump’s constant appeal and memorable catchphrase: “make America great again.”
Heuristics are often a poor way to weigh statistics and numeric data, and voters may have defaulted to Trump as he spent his time at his rallies promoting baseless claims on economics and immigration.
Those who voted red criticized Joe Biden’s economic policies, drawing comparisons to Trump’s pre-pandemic economy. Although the Republican candidate did have success, data from Vox suggests Biden has contributed a fair share to the post-COVID recovery.
Under his watch, Vox Media reports an increase of 2.7 million jobs in 2021. Additionally, unemployment reached its lowest since 1969. The stock market similarly grew 24 percent from the year before, hitting an all time high in November. In this respect, both Trump and Biden have contributed to a stronger Wall Street, although the Republican candidate has been given more credit for riding the wave of long-term economic recovery following 2008.
Additionally, many Trump supporters insist that his immigration policies were tough and focused on bringing down crime. However, the Washington Post reports Trump’s term averaging 500,000 deportations a year while Biden’s administration averaged more than 1 million deportations in 2022 alone. Despite the discrepancies within the data, many still attribute tougher immigration policies to Trump due to his fiery, rhetoric-filled speeches which exaggerates the dangers of asylum-seekers and his actions against them. Similarly, he appealed more to the working-class, clocking in at McDonalds to salt some fries.
To combat decisions based on instinct or emotion, a willingness to step back and evaluate different options is necessary. One has to find the middle ground between Dr. Spock’s cold logic and Leonard “Bones” McCoy rashness to embody Captain James Kirk’s levelheaded decision making.
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