Tracy Packiam Alloway, PhD

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Are Women more Emotional Decision Makers?

Women tend to describe themselves as emotional decision makers. Dr. Alloway conducted an experiment to discover if women would become more prone to making emotional decisions under pressure. She asked women to make a difficult decision (along the lines of sacrificing one person’s life to save many others.) Many women reacted emotionally, saying they simply could not make that difficult decision. 

Dr. Alloway then put the women under stress by asking them to count backward from 100 by sixes (100, 94, 87, etc.) After about a minute, she then asked them to make another difficult decision. Most women were able to make a more utilitarian decision (one that rationally considered the greater good, rather than personal emotions) under pressure. READ THE FULL ARTICLE