Resumen de Emotions - the power of the unconscious in decision-making in business organizations
Saint Thomas Aquinas and the Fathers of the Church who followed the Greeks saw reason as a divine gift associated with possession of a soul. It distinguished humans from animals, the latter being moved not by reason but only by emotions. As an alternative to defining emotions as a separate sub-component of one's own cognitive architecture, this PhD proposal argues that emotions are the main feature of communication between the unconscious and the conscious. Emotions are viewed as deliberately disturbing experiences based on complex internal states. Based on this holistic view, a different and formal approach and architecture is advocated for the determinants of the power of the unconscious in Corporate Decision Making (CDM) as well as for other related elements with emotional behavior. The idea is that emotions are the result of a high-dimensional optimization process that takes place in the unconscious and is mapped onto the low-dimensional consciousness. Instead of defining emotions as a separate sub-component of our cognitive architecture, it will be argued that emotions are the main attribute of communication between the unconscious and the conscious, leading to a better understanding of the problem to be assessed and to better decision-making [1,2]. Indeed, some of the main characteristics of emotions are their richness, their heterogeneity, their vagueness and their openness to multiple interpretations [3]. Hence the research’s question, viz. - How strongly do emotions influence a company's decision-making process? - Are emotions the voice of the unconscious, referred to by several authors, and do they effectively serve the task of ensuring the connection of the consciousness with the unconscious? - Should it be determined to what extent decisions that are made daily in company organizations are influenced / guided by the unconscious on the path of emotions? [1]. Ortony, A., Clore, G.L., Collins, A.: The cognitive structure of emotions. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1988). [2]. Damasio, A.: The feeling of what happens - Body, emotion and the making of consciousness. Vintage, London (2000). [3]. Feldman-Barrett, L., et al.: The experience of emotion. Annual Review of Psychology 58, 373–403 (2007).
