Does this explain a lot of the posts on ET?

Discussion in 'Psychology' started by patch227, Feb 1, 2006.

  1. patch227

    patch227

    According to Baumeister, The psychology of irrationality: Why people make foolish, self-defeating choices (2003), he concluded his survey with the following findings:

    1. Under emotional distress, people shift toward favoring high-risk, high payoff options, even if these are objectively poor choices. This appears based on a failure to think things through, caused by emotional distress.

    2. When self-esteem is threatened, people become upset and lose their capacity to regulate themselves. In particular, people who hold a high opinion of themselves often get quite upset in response to a blow to pride, and the rush to prove something great about themselves overrides their normal rational way of dealing with life.

    3. Self-regulation is required for many forms of self-interest behavior. When self-regulation fails, people may become self-defeating in various ways, such as taking immediate pleasures instead of delayed rewards. Self-regulation appears to depend on limited resources that operate like strength or energy, and so people can only regulate themselves to a limited extent.

    4. Making choices and decisions depletes this same resource. Once the resource is depleted, such as after making a series of important decisions, the self becomes tired and depleted, and its subsequent decisions may well be costly or foolish.

    5. The need to belong is a central feature of human motivation, and when this need is thwarted such as by interpersonal rejection, the human being somehow ceases to function properly. Irrational and self-defeating acts become more common in the wake of rejection.
     
  2. ur thinking too much mate...

    I post so that I can get help from other brilliant minds.
     
  3. dont

    dont

    I am going to buy this book. Very very good observations.
     
  4. Now you can understand the reason behind your foolishness. :D
     

  5. what are you talking about ?
     
  6. Hard to believe.. but, there are geniouses among us.
     
  7. dont

    dont

    Hopefully
     
  8. omniscient

    omniscient Guest

  9. Baumeister's reasoning is pretty lame: making "bad choices" doesn't necessarily follow being "in distress". My explanation is far better: depressed people by definition seek stimulation; putting oneself in danger--perhaps by placing a trade--necessarily increases adrenaline levels in the brain. In addition, scientists find some people likely to crave stimulation; these people are often called "adrenaline junkies". Clearly, scientists today believe there is a link between certain kinds of brain chemistry and abnormal behaviour. Baumeister needs to define terms better and learn to reason more clearly.

    I've never had much regard for German thinking.
     
  10. TRS

    TRS

    Posting is a lot like the market/s.
    You get the start of a thread. The to and fro. A predominate opinion soon takes hold. This opinion will have a 'wave' of supporters, untill, a strong and decisive post provides resistance, provoking support for the contrary opinion. Then....
     
    #10     Feb 1, 2006