Thinking Styles Essay Example
Thinking Styles Essay Example

Thinking Styles Essay Example

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  • Pages: 5 (1159 words)
  • Published: November 14, 2017
  • Type: Essay
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The influence of human factors on critical thinking is examined by Andrea Tracy from the University of Phoenix. These elements, which include enculturation, emotion, stress, ego and bias are crucial in shaping our thought processes. To optimize decision-making and the critical thinking process, it is essential to identify these factors, as emphasized by Tracy. The framework for individuals to analyze data and make informed decisions comprises three key thinking styles - optimistic, pessimistic and emotional.

The thinking styles of optimists, pessimists, and emotionalists are influenced by personal feelings. Each style has its own limitations - the optimist ignores negatives, the pessimist overlooks positives, and the emotionalist misses both. One's personality can have significant consequences on decision-making. Therefore, it is essential to analyze inputs for critical thinking while recognizing factors such as enculturation, emotion, stress, ego, and bias that influence human thought

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processes. Identifying these factors is crucial in understanding their impact on critical thinking outcomes.

Various categories have been created to classify the factors that affect critical thinking. These categories are known as Thinking Styles, and bring about diverse outcomes, both positive and negative. There exist three Thinking Styles, namely optimistic, pessimistic, and emotional, each of them providing alternative means to scrutinize daily scenarios. In particular, individuals with an optimistic Thinking Style tend to focus on the positive aspects of any given situation.

Optimistic individuals are convinced that ultimately, everything will turn out fine. They maintain that it is possible to discover positivity in most individuals and that every person possesses some sort of goodness. Essentially, a significant portion of the population are optimists, inclined to presume that whatever predicaments they face will eventually resolve themselves positively.

Being an

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optimist can hinder clear decision making as they tend to only see the positives and overlook the negatives. They might trust others too easily and not suspect any deception in their interactions. This can be risky as people may try to manipulate the optimist to achieve their own goals. Despite the risks, many people aspire to be optimists because of their unfailing positive outlook. They may take on challenging tasks, even when they are doubtful about their ability to succeed, with the conviction that they can accomplish it. This is a quintessential trait of optimism.

Instances arise where individuals are disliked for their optimism as they appear overly enthusiastic to undertake challenges. Nonetheless, if these optimists admit incapability of completing a task to their manager, the result may not be favorable. The manager might advise them to try accomplishing what is feasible or exploring alternative resolutions. Even though they deny being optimistic, it appears that everyone has instances where positivity is necessary in fulfilling responsibilities.

One should be aware of the negative consequences that emotional thinking can cause. Feeling angry may impair one's ability to make sound decisions, resulting in regret, anxiety, and embarrassment. It is crucial to consider potential outcomes before taking action in personal or professional situations. For instance, responding with an emotional outburst to feedback or a question from a coworker could have severe repercussions. Anger can stem from starting the day off on the wrong foot or experiencing frustration during the commute to work. To prevent such incidents, it is advisable for individuals to take some time to calm down before reacting impulsively.

As a pro golfer, Tiger Woods opted for a specific

approach when facing poor play performances. He allows himself to feel upset for only 60 seconds, and then he motivates himself to move past it. From that point on, he refuses to allow the bad shot to impact the remainder of his game.

The instance of Boston Scientific acquiring Guidant offers an excellent illustration of guarding against emotional thinking. In May 2008, the Harvard Business Review cited the takeover as an example of emotional thinking - Johnson and Johnson initially intended to acquire Guidant. However, following the recall of 170,000 pacemakers, Boston Scientific took the opportunity to purchase Guidant to outmaneuver J and J. Unfortunately, this choice had unfavorable consequences because of prioritizing winning at all costs. Actions such as these have adverse effects, which may be difficult for individuals and businesses to overcome. Emotional thinking can negatively impact business, personal relationships, and self-perception.

Reflect and "move on" is a recommended action to consider. Pessimism is an important emotion to acknowledge when analyzing critical thinking, defined by Merriam-Webster's dictionary as the tendency to focus on negative aspects, circumstances, and potential outcomes or anticipate the worst possible scenario. This emotion is commonly experienced amongst humans and can impact critical thinking. A correlation has been found between depression and pessimism; both emotions negatively affect an individual's thinking process. Depression and excessive pessimism hinder accurate interpretation or analysis of information, which is discussed in an article on mindsportlive.

Com suggests that achieving a balance between optimism and occasional pessimism leads to optimal results. Although optimists tend to be happier, live longer, and be more productive, pessimists excel at critical thinking as they remain grounded in negativity. In another article by Price

Pritchett, it is suggested that pessimism can aid us in seeing things more accurately in certain situations because being pessimistic sharpens our sense of reality, increases perception of danger, sensitizes us to potential problems and causes careful weighing of the downside.

As per Pritchett's (2007) views, while being realistic may be a trait of pessimists, the drawbacks of such an attitude overshadow its benefits. Negative thoughts can impede rational thinking and lead to premature abandonment of tasks. While a moderate amount of pessimism can help enhance critical thinking skills, unchecked pessimism can adversely affect one's emotional and physical well-being. It is necessary for individuals to consider optimistic, pessimistic, and emotional aspects while making decisions that necessitate the gathering and analysis of information for arriving at sound conclusions.

In line with References (2007), the optimist, pessimist, and emotionalist share similar thinking patterns that stem from personal emotions. The optimist disregards negativity, while the pessimist overlooks positivity, and the emotionalist observes neither. Nevertheless, each of these thinking styles can tremendously impact an individual's life since personality traits can significantly affect decision-making. For this reason, it is essential to carefully assess inputs and apply critical thinking skills for a prosperous future.

The article with the authorship of Malhotra, D., Ku, G., and Murnighan, J. was obtained from http://mindsportlive.om/Articles/Article/?articleId=217 on October 1st, 2008. The content is in the form of a webpage.The article titled "When Winning is Everything," published in the Harvard Business Review in May 2008 and found in the Business Source Complete database, is a valuable resource with page numbers 78-86. Retrieved on October 2, 2008.The definition of pessimism according to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary retrieved on September 30, 2008

from http://www. is as follows merriam-webster.com defines "pessimism". Additionally, an article titled "How pessimism can add value to our work" authored by Price Pritchett and published on August 28, 2007, on the website Hard Optimism is accessible via http://inhome.rediff.com and was retrieved on October 1, 2008.

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