Newsflash: I’m a Sucker

This weekend my fiancé revealed my deep dark secret- I’m a sucker.  I pride myself on being logical and a good critical thinker.  I carefully weigh facts when making a decision and invite unique solutions when solving a problem. But there is one clear area in my life where I tend to ignore my own critical thinking ability.

I have an emotional bias.  We all do. My emotional bias is for animals and animal owners. Show me a commercial with a sad looking puppy and tell me that $50 will make them happy again, and I will have that check sent before you can say Sally Struthers.  I am incapable of checking out at Petsmart without donating money to local animal shelters.  Every time the ASPCA sends me address labels and an empty envelope, I send it back with a donation and a smile.  I fall for appeals to emotion every time when there is an animal involved.

Same thing goes with animal owners.  There has been a string of burglaries around my house recently, and reportedly the burglars knock on the door first to see if anyone is home and try to get a good look inside before they come back and break in.  Ordinarily I don’t open the door for anyone other than FedEx or UPS, but when I looked through the peep-hole in my door, a man and his dog were on my porch.  Immediately, I opened the door.  Why?  Dog owners aren’t burglars. Wait…what?  Yes,  I realize how silly that sounds.  My emotional bias could have put me in grave danger.

And there you have it- my deep dark secret.  I am emotionally biased and tend to overlook logic and critical thinking when animals are involved.  I have to work hard to overcome my emotional bias towards animals when making decisions.

What is your emotional bias?

Editor’s Note: Breanne Harris is the Solutions Architect for Pearson TalentLens.  She works with customers to design selection and development plans that incorporate critical thinking assessments and training.  She has a Master’s degree in Organizational Psychology and has experience in recruiting, training, and HR consulting.  She is the chief blogger for Critical Thinkers and occasionally posts at ThinkWatson.  Connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter for more of her thoughts.