[whataretheysaying] Mary Madigan: Dirty Harry's Rules of Order

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Posted by Mary Madigan:
Dirty Harry's Rules of Order
http://whataretheysaying.powerblogs.com/posts/1181619206.shtml


   According to recent research, [1]Anger Fuels Better Decisions

     Despite its reputation as an impetus to rash behavior, anger
     actually seems to help people make better choicesâeven aiding those
     who are usually very poor at thinking rationally. This could be
     because angry people base their decisions on the cues that "really
     matter" rather than things that can be called irrelevant or a
     distraction.

     Previous research has shown that anger biases peopleâs
     thinkingâturning them into bigger risk-takers and making them less
     trusting and more prejudiced, for instance.

     But little has been done to study how, exactly, anger affects a
     personâs thinking...

     ..In both studies, the researchers found that the angry subjects
     were better at discriminating between strong and weak arguments and
     were more convinced by the stronger arguments. Those who were not
     made to feel angry tended to be equally convinced by both
     arguments, indicating that they were not as analytical in their
     assessments.

     The angry students were also better at weighing the arguments
     appropriately depending on which organization had made them.

   I don't know if that's good news for anger management consultants, but
   it's good news for the blogosphere...

References

   1. http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070611/sc_livescience/angerfuelsbetterdecisions