Why we feel anxious after making an important decision

 Buyers always think before doing anything.

Sometimes they only think for a split second and sometimes they think about a purchase for months, even years.

 

When buyers think about a purchase they access memory and emotions.

 

Thinking is an emotional as well as a cognitive process. Every thought we have brings with it a congruent emotion. Unless we are anxious when the emotions can disrupt our thinking.

 

Decisions about whether to buy something or not involve thoughts, memories and emotions. The emotional aspect of decision making is the most influential.

 

Thinking about a purchase provokes feelings of anxiety to a greater or lesser degree.

 

Every time we make a decision we experience anxiety to a greater or lesser degree. The more meaningful the decision is to us the greater will be the anxiety.

 

When anxiety reaches a certain level we begin to think irrationally.

 

When we experience anxiety our brains act in a set way that is difficult to override.

 

When we experience anxiety about making a decision three things happen in a progressive sequence.

 

1.    We avoid thinking about the subject

2.    Our brains block access to thoughts about the subject

3.    We will 'escape' if the anxiety gets too high.

 

As we approach the point of making a decision the anxiety will increase.

The bigger or more emotionally important the higher the anxiety.

All this brings a sense of mixed feelings, psychologists call it cognitive dissonance.

The bigger the purchase or the higher the emotional charge the bigger the feelings of pleasure and anxiety and the more we research the purchase.

Eventually we make a decision and buy the big item or make an important decision.

We experience a moment of pleasure but very soon after the purchase we begin to question if we've done the right thing. Another wave of cognitive dissonance hits us and this is called 'buyers regret'.

It passes in due course.

Why Keir Starmer was wrong to oppose Scottish independence now

 personal opinion:

I think Keir Starmer was wrong to voice opposition to Scottish Independence. There's no reason for Labour to mention it at this stage. I think it's coming from Claire Ainsley and I don't think she's the right person for the job.

The result will be to move what little support Labour has in Scotland to the SNP. Scots voted strongly to remain so there's bound to be a backlash of support for the SNP after Brexit. If I were a Scot living in Scotland I'd be an active member of the SNP at this time. And what will Scots think when they learn about the deal Gibraltar, who voted strongly to remain is getting compared to Scotland, who voted strongly to remain, being glued to Johnson's England. The EU might buy into the idea of a genuine freeport in Aberdeen or Clydeport, the British Ports Association (BPA) are calling for something similar*. A freeport has special tax, import and export arrangements with other countries as do Hong Kong or Singapore. Aberdeen could have freeport status within the EU and strong links to Scandinavia and Clydeport to Northern Ireland?

I think Keir Starmer could have said that Labour will open negotiations with the EU about a close long term relationship, perhaps similar to that of Ukraine when elected to government in 2024. He might also have said Scotland, that has historically had closer links to Europe than England should be given special status along with Northern Ireland. This might put the brakes on, or take the edge off the rush to deregulate that's coming our way.

The time for Labour to take a position on Scottish independence is when it becomes a live issue. I voted Starmer/Rayner and hate to say that I am disappointed in both of them.

Sorry...

*sunak pinched the freeport idea from BPA although sunak's version is plain daft.