When Stressed, People Are Quicker to Jump to the Worst Conclusions

Summary: When feeling stressed people are more likely to jump to more undesirable conclusions based on little evidence, a new study concludes.

Source: The Journal of Neuroscience.

A new study led by UCL researchers found that when under stress, people reach unwanted conclusions based on weaker evidence than when they are relaxed.

Many of the most notable choices you will make, from financial decisions to medical and professional ones, will happen while you feel stressed.

Research suggests that under stress, people consider believing in each piece of evidence that supports unwanted conclusions more than when they are relaxed. In contrast, how they believe on evidence that supports desirable conclusions is not affected by stress. As a result, people are more likely to deduce that the worst is true when they are stressed.

For the study, 91 participants played a categorisation game, in which they could collect as much evidence as they wanted to decide whether they were in a desirable environment (which was linked with rewards) or an undesirable environment (which was linked with losses).

They were motivated for accuracy. Prior to playing the game, 40 of the participants were told that they had to give a surprise public speech, which would be judged by a group of experts. This caused them to feel anxious and stressed.

The findings of the study was that under stress, the participants needed weaker evidence to reach the conclusion that they were in an unwanted environment. By contrast, stress did not alter the strength of the evidence needed to reach the conclusion that they were in their desired environment.