scholarly journals Mental states and political decisions

2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 148-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence Freedman
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Mental Impairment ◽  
Good Decision ◽  
Democratic Systems ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Political Decisions

SummaryThe Owen/Russell thesis on the impact of mental illness on political leaders is considered. The importance of the issue is acknowledged. Using the examples of President Kennedy and the Shah of Iran it is argued that what constitutes good decision-making is contingent on circumstances and evaluated by outcomes. There are often alternative explanations to mental impairment for poor decision-making, and that hubris is not the only possible failing. Last, democratic systems have better mechanisms than authoritarian regimes to address the problems posed by leaders who are physically or mentally ill.

The power of economic models: the case of the EU’s fiscal regulation framework

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Heimberger ◽  
Jakob Huber ◽  
Jakob Kapeller
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Economic Models ◽  
Feedback Loops ◽  
Fiscal Policies ◽  
Policy Documents ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Legal Provisions ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Policy Proposals ◽  
Political Decisions

Abstract This article is concerned with the impact of economic ideas on political processes and decision-making. We argue that economic models can serve as a transmission device between economic paradigms and policy programs, which allow actors drawing on the model to exercise power in decision-making. We illustrate this argument by focusing on the European Commission’s ‘potential output’ model, which represents a core pillar of EU fiscal governance as it provides estimates of ‘structural deficits’ for evaluating fiscal policies. We combine an analysis of the history and content of the model at stake with insights derived from policy documents, legal provisions, speeches and interviews. Our findings imply that economic models (a) allow for exerting power only under specific conditions, (b) align paradigmatic priors with policy proposals and (c) may constitute mutual feedback loops where political decisions are coined by technicalities and, as a consequence, seemingly innocent technical assumptions become objects of political demands.

Vioxx: Too Risky for Merck?

2017 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Mitchell A. Petersen ◽  
Rashmi Singhal
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Market Value ◽  
Pharmaceutical Product ◽  
Financial Impact ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Good Decision ◽  
Initial Development ◽  
Stock Value ◽  
Subsequent Withdrawal ◽  
The Impact

Once a decision has turned out poorly—such as Merck's decision to launch and support the painkiller Vioxx—it is easy to criticize. However, are these bad outcomes the result of a good decision which turned out unlucky, or are they decisions where the bad outcome could have been predicted? This case follows Merck's pharmaceutical product Vioxx from initial development to launch and subsequent withdrawal, and considers the decisions made at each stage by the Merck executives involved. The case concludes by examining the financial impact of the Vioxx withdrawal on the company and on the Merck stock value.This case allows the students to examine the various steps of Vioxx's development and launch. By doing so, they can consider whether the decision-making process broke down and why. By connecting the Vioxx launch and withdrawal to changes in Merck's cash flow and stock market value, the students can document the impact of such decisions on the value of the firm.

scholarly journals Why are decisions for oil and gas projects not always made the way they ‘should' be?

2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 130 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Newman ◽  
Steve Begg ◽  
Matthew Welsh
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Decision Analysis ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Decision Quality ◽  
Good Decision ◽  
Business Decisions ◽  
Business Outcomes ◽  
Underlying Causes ◽  
The Impact

The outcomes of many business decisions do not live up to expectations or possibilities. A literature review of neuroscience and psychological factors that affect decision making has been undertaken, highlighting many reasons why it is hard for people to be good decision makers, particularly in complex and uncertain situations such as oil and gas projects. One way to diminish the impact of these human factors is to use the structured methodology and tools of Decision Analysis, which have been developed and used over 50 years, for making good decisions. Interviews with senior personnel from oil and gas operating companies, followed up by a larger-scale survey, were conducted to determine whether or how Decision Analysis and Decision Quality are used and why they are used in particular ways. The results showed that Decision Analysis and Decision Quality are not used as often as the participants think they should be; some 90% of respondents believed that they should be used for key project decisions, but only ~50% said that they are used. Six propositions were tested for why Decision Analysis and Decision Quality are not used more, and the following three were deemed to be supported: • Decision Analysis and Decision Quality are not well understood. • There is reliance on experience and judgment for decision-making. • Projects are schedule-driven. Further research is proposed to determine the underlying causes, and tackle those, with the aim being to improve business outcomes by determining how to influence decision makers to use Decision Analysis and Decision Quality more effectively.

Affective Intelligence and Emotional Dynamics in Voters’ Decision Making Processes

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pavlos Vasilopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Surveillance System ◽  
Systematic Treatment ◽  
Learned Behaviors ◽  
Intelligence Theory ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
The One ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Emotional Systems ◽  
Political Decisions

Affective intelligence theory offers a novel and systematic treatment on the impact of affective reactions on citizens’ information processes and political decisions based on neuroscience. Individuals have two distinct emotional systems that lead to two separate decision-making strategies. On the one hand, the disposition system, governed by enthusiasm and aversion, leads people to rely on habit or their sets of previously learned behaviors. On the other, the surveillance system is activated in novel or threating circumstances and is governed by anxiety. Once activated, anxiety leads individuals to seek for political information, break away from habitual political identifications, and consequently renders them more open to persuasion.

scholarly journals SITUATIONAL AWARENESS VS. A PILOT’S DECISION-MAKING PROCESS

2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-84
Author(s):  
Jarosław Kozuba
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Situational Awareness ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Good Decision ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACT This article describes the impact of a pilot’s situational awareness (SA) on the quality of decisions that are made by him or her. Situational awareness has been defined as a state and as a process. The article also refers to how the situational awareness and the decision-making process interact. The decision-making process and its components have been defined. Based on author’s own research as well as conclusions drawn from the subject’s literature, the importance of an acceptable SA level for the correct progress of a pilot’s decision-making process (and the likelihood of making a good decision) has been pointed out.

The Impact of EU Political Ambiguity Towards Migrant Crisis on the Mental Health of Migrants

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S626-S626
Author(s):  
S. Veceric Kulovic
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
Migration Route ◽  
Eu Countries ◽  
Competing Interest ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Political Decisions ◽  
A Current

For last couple of years, EU is facing migrant crisis that is challenging its capacity to help and its unity to decide the modes of assistance. Such political context brings additional uncertainty and insecurity into migrants’ lives which causes extreme experiences that are often damaging migrants’ mental health. In humanitarian plans regarding assistance for migrants, mental health is a cross cutting issue. Status of mental health is a result of complex intertwining of genetics, developmental and current life experiences. The experience of migration is a current life event which highly determines migrants’ mental health. Hardships of travel along migration route are worsened by often hostile reception by authorities at borders of countries that are on the way to desired rich EU countries. On migrants’ way to desired safety, there are countries like Slovenia and Hungary which protect their borders with wire. Therefore, migrants are stuck in countries, like Greece and Croatia, which are not their desirable destination. While waiting to get free passage, migrants are exposed to various political rhetoric of politicians of EU countries who hold their destiny in their hands. Migration experience does not make migrants mentally ill but it does make them vulnerable in that respect. Migrants’ vulnerability is highly challenged by ambiguity of political decisions, media coverage influenced by the same policies and concomitant changes in immediate surrounding. It is crucial to make publicly clear that political decisions mean life or death, health or mental disorder to migrants and that therefore they at least carry ethical responsibility.Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his/her declaration of competing interest.

Quota Women Are Threatening to Men

2017 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 107-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klea Faniko ◽  
Till Burckhardt ◽  
Oriane Sarrasin ◽  
Fabio Lorenzi-Cioldi ◽  
Siri Øyslebø Sørensen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Perceived Threat ◽  
Preferential Treatment ◽  
Public Sector Employees ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Women In Decision Making ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Two studies carried out among Albanian public-sector employees examined the impact of different types of affirmative action policies (AAPs) on (counter)stereotypical perceptions of women in decision-making positions. Study 1 (N = 178) revealed that participants – especially women – perceived women in decision-making positions as more masculine (i.e., agentic) than feminine (i.e., communal). Study 2 (N = 239) showed that different types of AA had different effects on the attribution of gender stereotypes to AAP beneficiaries: Women benefiting from a quota policy were perceived as being more communal than agentic, while those benefiting from weak preferential treatment were perceived as being more agentic than communal. Furthermore, we examined how the belief that AAPs threaten men’s access to decision-making positions influenced the attribution of these traits to AAP beneficiaries. The results showed that men who reported high levels of perceived threat, as compared to men who reported low levels of perceived threat, attributed more communal than agentic traits to the beneficiaries of quotas. These findings suggest that AAPs may have created a backlash against its beneficiaries by emphasizing gender-stereotypical or counterstereotypical traits. Thus, the framing of AAPs, for instance, as a matter of enhancing organizational performance, in the process of policy making and implementation, may be a crucial tool to countering potential backlash.

The Mental Health and Social Exclusion European Network

2000 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 245-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luigi Leonori ◽  
Manuel Muñoz ◽  
Carmelo Vázquez ◽  
José J. Vázquez ◽  
Mary Fe Bravo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
European Union ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Outcome Evaluation ◽  
World Federation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Capital Cities ◽  
Homeless Mentally Ill ◽  
The Impact

This report concerns the activities developed by the Mental Health and Social Exclusion (MHSE) Network, an initiative supported by the Mental Health Europe (World Federation of Mental Health). We report some data from the preliminary survey done in five capital cities of the European Union (Madrid, Copenhagen, Brussels, Lisbon, and Rome). The main aim of this survey was to investigate, from a mostly qualitative point of view, the causal and supportive factors implicated in the situation of the homeless mentally ill in Europe. The results point out the familial and childhood roots of homelessness, the perceived causes of the situation, the relationships with the support services, and the expectations of future of the homeless mentally ill. The analysis of results has helped to identify the different variables implicated in the social rupture process that influences homelessness in major European cities. The results were used as the basis for the design of a more ambitious current research project about the impact of the medical and psychosocial interventions in the homeless. This project is being developed in 10 capital cities of the European Union with a focus on the program and outcome evaluation of the health and psychosocial services for the disadvantaged.

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