Managing Biases and Emotional Influences in Decision Making

Introduction

When talking about biases, it refers to the preferences held by an individual which affect his/her judgments. Biases hinder an individual from making decisions that are balanced (Giang, 2016). Influence, on the other hand, refers to the hidden power that affects how things are accomplished. This implies that emotions as a conscious experience that involves a lot of mental activity can influence the way individuals make particular decisions (Burg, Adam, & Stomper, 2015). This paper aims at addressing how to manage biases and emotional influences when it comes to making decisions.

The paper looks at three tests, taken by a single person. The first test is Maetrix, which measures emotional intelligence of individuals (Conference Board Inc, 2014). The second test is a self-assessment test, which helps in understanding the style used by individuals to make decisions. The third test is a questionnaire, which is used in assessing the leadership skills of individuals who filled the questionnaire (Cialdini, 2011).

Maetrix

Maetrix is a test used to find out the emotional intelligence of an individual. Maetrix applies forty questions, which are gotten from an instrument of assessment known as Maetrix El Capability, which has 158 items (Beebe, 2011). Maetrix looks at self-awareness issues of an individual, as well as how individuals can manage themselves. Maetrix also considers social awareness of individuals, and how they can manage relationships (Shefrin, 2016).

Self-Assessment Test

A self-assessment test helps to understand the style used by an individual in order to make decisions. Moreover, it estimates the level at which individuals prefer making rational decisions and the levels at which individuals prefer making intuitive decisions. Both types of making decisions are awarded 20 points as the maximum score, and four points as the least score (Burg et al., 2015). The range of four to nine points shows low preference; ten to fourteen points shows moderate preference, while fifteen to twenty points shows strong preference.

Questionnaire

This type of test is used in assessing leadership skills of an individual who fills a questionnaire. A questionnaire is made up of various questions, which require answers that are standardized. With a help of questionnaire, information is compiled, analyzed, and interpreted to assess the skills (Beebe, 2011). The retrieved points are awarded between 14 and 70. A score of between 14 and 27 points demonstrates that an individual has a low motivation of leadership. A score of between 28 and 55 points reveals that an individual has uncertainty on their motivation for leadership, while a score between 56 and 70 points shows strong motivation for leadership by an individual (De La Cruz, D’Urso, & Ellison, 2014).

Emotional Intelligence as Addressed by Three Tests

When looking at self-awareness, Maetrix test, self-assessment test, and questionnaires address three types of competencies by an individual. The first type is the emotional type of self-awareness. In this type of competency, an individual has an opportunity to examine and identify their emotions (Conference Board Inc, 2014). An individual also gets a chance to be acquainted with the impact of emotions they have towards their performance at work, and the relationships they hold.

The second type of competency is the accurate type of self-assessment. In this type of competency, an individual may come up with evaluation that is realistic on the strengths they have, as well as the limitations they can get to (Burg et al., 2015). The third type of competency is self-confidence. In self-confidence, an individual is able to positively look at themselves, by creating a strong sense of their worth (Cialdini, 2011).

Decision Making as Addressed by Three Tests

As for self-management, it addresses five types of competencies. The first type of competency is self-control which looks at how an individual can keep emotions, as well as impulses which are disruptive under control (Cialdini, 2011).The second type of competency is transparency. In transparency, the tests address how an individual is able to maintain integrity and be honest, as well as how an individual manages themselves, and the responsibilities they have (Burg et al., 2015).

The third type of competency is adaptability. This type of competency looks at the flexibility an individual has, when it comes to adapting to changes that may occur in situations, as well as overcoming any type of obstacles (Giang, 2016). The forth type of competency is achievement orientation. This type of competency looks at an individual’s guiding drive, when it comes to meeting internal standards, which lead to excellence (Shefrin, 2016).

The fifth type of competency is initiative. In this type of competency, the tests analyze how ready an individual is, when it comes seizing any opportunity, and acting towards it accordingly (De La Cruz et al., 2014). As for social awareness, the tests closely analyze three types of competencies. The first type of competency is empathy. In this type of competency, the tests try to look at how an individual manage to understand other people, and be able to get involved in their concerns (Burg et al., 2015).

The second type of competency is organizational awareness. In this type of competency, the tests look at how an individual is effective in reading the currents which exist in organizational life, how an individual builds networks for making decisions, as well as how an individual navigates in politics (Cialdini, 2011).The third type of competency is service orientation. In this type of competency, the tests look at how an individual is effective in recognizing the needs held by customers and meeting them (Conference Board Inc, 2014).

Leadership as Addressed by Three Tests

The three tests address the issue of relationship management. In relationship management, the tests look at seven types of competencies (Burg et al., 2015). The first type of competency is visionary leadership. In this type of competency, the tests look at how an individual can inspire and guide groups of people as well as separate personalities (Shefrin, 2016).

The second type of competency is developing others. This type of competency looks at how an individual is effective in strengthening other people and supporting the abilities they have by giving them feedback and showing them guidance (Shefrin, 2016). The third type of competency is influence. In this kind of competency, the tests look at how an individual has the means to exercise strategies for persuasion by upholding integrity, listening, sending clear messages, giving convincing information, and sending messages that are tuned well (De La Cruz et al., 2014).

The forth type of competency is a change catalyst. In this type of competency, the tests look at an individual’s proficiency, when it comes to initiating ideas as well as leading other people in another direction (Beebe, 2011). The fifth type of competency is conflict management. In this type of competency, the tests look at how an individual is able to resolve any kind of disagreements and use collaborative methods to come up with a solution to the disagreements (Cialdini, 2011).

The sixth type of competency is building bonds. In this type of competency, the tests look at how an individual is able to build and maintain healthy relationships (Conference Board Inc, 2014). The seventh competency addressed is teamwork and collaboration of an individual. In this type of competency, the tests look at how an individual is able to promote cooperation as well as build and be a part of a team (Giang, 2016).

Contribution of Emotional Intelligence, Leadership and Decision-Making in Individuals Performing Their Roles

An individual, who is emotionally intelligent, is aware of his/her level of confidence and is also able to interpret his/her emotions. If the same individual has leadership skills, then he/she is able to relate to other people effectively and work in a team (Shefrin, 2016). When an individual is skilled in making decisions, then it means that he/she is able to tell what decision requires to be made within an organization at what specific time. This then shows that for any organization, it would be highly beneficial to have employees, and run the three tests (Cialdini, 2011).

Common Biases that May Impact Decisions-Making

There are five common biases which can highly impact an individual’s choice of making any decision. First, there is the issue of biases that are action-oriented. In this type of bias, an individual feels intense pressure to act due to optimism about what the future holds and dismissing the possibility of an occurrence of any negative events (Cialdini, 2011). The second bias is caused by self-interests of an individual. In this kind of bias, an individual may reward wrong behavior by the use of conflicting incentives due to the lack of consideration of other stakeholders (Mobius & National Bureau of Economic Research, 2011).

The third kind of bias is caused by recognition of patterns. In this kind of bias, an individual may emphasize more on events that happened recently and give patterns where there are no patterns (Conference Board Inc, 2014). The fourth bias is caused by social harmony. In this type of bias, the decisions made by an individual are influenced by politics that exist within an organization, where an individual supports thoughts of people in his/her group. The fifth form of bias is stability bias (De La Cruz et al., 2014). In this form of bias, a person is comfortable in the prevailing situation, without pressure of bringing change.

How to Become an Effective Leader and Decision Maker

An effective leader is an individual who is visionary and can inspire other people. As a leader, it is also important to be competent by supporting other people, consequently, this will then result in an individual, becoming influential (Beebe, 2011). As a leader, it is an added advantage to be full of new ideas that may bring about success in any organization. However, it is also important to know how to hand differences between other people and bring them together in a team. Having the skills to work in a team, makes one a successful leader (Giang, 2016).

For one to be an effective maker of decisions, then they have to be transparent and have self-control. It is, however, equally important to be able to adapt to changes and be oriented to achieve intended plans. A leader should also be empathetic while making decisions. Therefore, decision-making should involve careful thinking (Burg et al., 2015).

Conclusion

The paper above has addressed issues on how to manage biases and emotional influences, when it comes to making decisions. It has discussed the issue by considering three types of tests. Maetrix is commonly used to test for emotional intelligence, a self-assessment test, which tests for the styles used by individuals, when making decisions, and questionnaires, which are commonly used, in assessing leadership skills. The paper has concluded by looking at common biases that prevail when people are making decisions as well as the characteristics of an effective leader and effective ways of making decisions.

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