Does Stress Affect Your Ability to Make Good Decisions?

By Shannon Doyne
Related Article JooHee Yoon
Student Opinion - The Learning Network Student Opinion - The Learning Network

Questions about issues in the news for students 13 and older.

We all know that stress can harm your health but studies show it can it also harm your decision-making skills.

Has stress ever led you to make a choice that didn’t work out well?

In the Opinion essay “Are Women Better Decision Makers?” Therese Huston writes:

Neuroscientists have uncovered evidence suggesting that, when the pressure is on, women bring unique strengths to decision making.

Mara Mather, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Southern California, and Nichole R. Lighthall, a cognitive neuroscientist now at Duke University, are two of the many researchers who have found that under normal circumstances, when everything is low-key and manageable, men and women make decisions about risk in similar ways. We gather the best information we can, we weigh potential costs against potential gains, and then we choose how to act. But add stress to the situation — replicated in the lab by having participants submerge their hands in painfully cold, 35-degree water — and men and women begin to part ways.

Dr. Mather and her team taught people a simple computer gambling game, in which they got points for inflating digital balloons. The more they inflated each balloon, the greater its value, and the risk of popping it. When they were relaxed, men and women took similar risks and averaged a similar number of pumps. But after experiencing the cold water, the stressed women stopped sooner, cashing out their winnings and going with the more guaranteed win. Stressed men did just the opposite. They kept pumping — in one study averaging about 50 percent more pumps than the women — and risking more. In this experiment, the men’s risk-taking earned them more points. But that wasn’t always the case.

In another experiment, researchers asked participants to draw cards from multiple decks, some of which were safe, providing frequent small rewards, and others risky, with infrequent but bigger rewards. They found that the most stressed men drew 21 percent more cards from the risky decks than from the safe ones, compared to the most stressed women, losing more over all.

Dr. Mather and her team taught people a simple computer gambling game, in which they got points for inflating digital balloons. The more they inflated each balloon, the greater its value, and the risk of popping it. When they were relaxed, men and women took similar risks and averaged a similar number of pumps. But after experiencing the cold water, the stressed women stopped sooner, cashing out their winnings and going with the more guaranteed win. Stressed men did just the opposite. They kept pumping — in one study averaging about 50 percent more pumps than the women — and risking more. In this experiment, the men’s risk-taking earned them more points. But that wasn’t always the case.

In another experiment, researchers asked participants to draw cards from multiple decks, some of which were safe, providing frequent small rewards, and others risky, with infrequent but bigger rewards. They found that the most stressed men drew 21 percent more cards from the risky decks than from the safe ones, compared to the most stressed women, losing more over all.

Students: Read the entire article, then tell us …

–Have you had experiences, or witnessed other people’s, that support or contradict the studies described in the Opinion essay?

–Do you think that women make wiser decisions than men in times of stress? Why or why not?

–Why do you think stress, according to the studies, makes men willing to take more or greater risk?

–How can you minimize the role stress can play in decision making? Explain.

–What advice do you have for someone who seems to experience a lot of stress?

Students 13 and older are invited to comment below. Please use only your first name. For privacy policy reasons, we will not publish student comments that include a last name.

Comments are no longer being accepted.

Joya October 20, 2014 · 9:48 am

When you’re under a certain amount of stress, some tend to work well under the pressure while others may tend to just simply give up. I have had experiences that put a lot of stress on me but depending on what it is, it can either work to my advantage or it can be a disadvantage. I’ve also witnessed situations where people I know are under a lot of stress and they can either pull through easily or the result can be detrimental. I feel as though either sex can make wiser decisions, it all depends on the work ethic and mind frame of the person. Stress can cause men to make rash decisions because it seems as though when they are under pressure, they feel like their odds of winning or doing a better job may be higher or they possibly just panic or have some sort of adrenaline rush. Stress can be avoided by organization, working on certain skills and not indulging in procrastination. For someone who is under a lot of stress all the time, they need to have time management and a good work ethic.

Katherine October 20, 2014 · 9:53 am

I see some carpets,people,and little kids.Maybe they’re in a truck crossing the border because they are tired of the violence in their countries.I think it’s a truck because the floor is made from wood.I see a lady holding a little boy.Maybe the little boy is her son.

Samah 3A October 20, 2014 · 11:53 am

i think that the men can make wiser decisions than women in times of stress because the men when they take decision they depend on their minds but the women depend on their hearts and their feelings . the women have wiser decisions too. they think about their own life and about their kids lives. i advice everyone have to experience a lot of stress to calm down and relax. he or she has to avoid the stress because stress make the people sick and worry. it can cause a lot of problems like heart diseases.

Randy 3A October 20, 2014 · 11:59 am

The stress harm the decisions-making skills of everybody men or women. About the opinion essay “Are Women Better Decision Makers?” I think women make wiser decisions than men in time of stress because women are more careful. Instead men are bolder than women. According to the essay men in times of stress are more willing to take more or greater risk. I think that men attach less importance to do things than women do. For example, women attach importance to each step to do something. Men just want to see the result. But the stress is the same for all of us. And in this time we have a lot of stress for the fast life that we live. If you have stress I just have to tell you that calm down and take the life more easily. “We only live one” that’s why you have to take care of yourself. One way to put the stress out if doing things that you love to do. For example, when I feel stress I go to swimming because I love to and that makes me feel better and calm myself. If I can’t swim I walking around or I go to a restaurant or a movie theater. The importance thing if to do something you like. Remember the stress is always there, but you have to control the stress. Don’t let the stress control you.

Benish_MrC_P2 October 20, 2014 · 5:20 pm

Stress negatively affects both men and women in our world. Although, recent studies show that women make smarter decisions under stress than men. I don’t think this statement is very accurate because every person is different and everyone reacts and handles stress differently than others. Some people adjust to stress and handle it very good and others just don’t know what to do and make undesired decisions. I do not think matters if you are a guy or a girl, it just depends on the individual and his own reaction to stressful situations. I think the reason why men are willing to take risks when they’re under stress is because they get frantic and make erratic choices which they do not intend to make. Men get in a stressful situations and do not know what to do to get out of that situation so they start doing more bold and risky things. I do not think they even realize they’re making all those reckless decisions. I think the best way to minimize the role of stress in a decision making is by analyzing the situation and pretend that you’re not even under stress. Just think of it as a normal situation and think what you would do under normal circumstances and make the same choice when you’re under stress. I think this will make people make smarter and wiser decisions instead of reckless and erratic decisions. They should also weigh out all the negative results of the decision and see how its going to affect them after they make the decision. The advice I would give to someone with a lot of stress is to find a way to balance relaxation with the work that is giving you stress. Balancing time is very important and if you could find a way to do that, it will greatly limit the stress. I think people should sleep more and eat healthier to reduce and limit the stress.

Raquel S. October 20, 2014 · 8:29 pm

Stress is a feeling that comes down on all us, whether your male or female. We make our own decisions based on what we feel is right for us even if it isn’t. From watching experiences by other people, I can tell you men don’t make wiser decisions than women and the same the other way around. For example, when i see some students under a lot of pressure because they can’t get their homework done on time either both boys and girls don’t do their homework or both end up staying late to get it done. It is certainly based on whether that person wants a good grade or not. So it’s based on one’s personality not by gender. Maybe this study shows that men are more of risk takers while women like to play it safe but just it doesn’t mean that being a risk taker or playing it safe is always the wise decision.
Women are perceived to be more wiser than men. Which could be true but honestly I believe it’s not about gender it’s just on how well you handle a situation as human being or how mature you are enough to handle the situation. It works both ways with each gender on decision making with stress because it’s based on their personality. For example, a girl who’s behind on paying bills and might get evacuated may get a second job to pay her or bills or another girl may just ignore her bills and eventually just be evacuated. The girl who got a second job to pay her bills is the one who was responsible and more determined to make sure she has a home, while the other wasn’t. So it doesn’t matter about gender it’s just based on that person’s personality to deal with hard situations.
According to the studies, Men make riskier decisions than women. Maybe because men are just simply way more brave to expect the outcome than women are. Not saying women are feeble but many women are more cautious while men aren’t. But again it’s based on a person’s personality also the situation. I’m sure they’re plenty of women who are risk takers just as much as men and men who are more about playing the safe card just as much as women.
How you can minimize stress while making good decision making is to just not think about how much it will effect you and just react to whatever your situation is. Everyone makes mistakes and there is probably going to be times where someone is going to make the wrong the decision so just try to make the best decision as possible. Most of the reasons why people are under stress because they didn’t take care of things that they should have in the first place like procrastination. Stress is going to come at some point of everyone’s lives and won’t go away so you mine as well try not stress about not stressing out. It’s just life and things we have to face.
The best advice I can give to someone who is always in a lot of stress in=s to go treat themselves. Every person should go treat themselves when their under a lot of stress and try their hardest to come out of their stress hole. If it’s really bad then maybe they should get a therapists to express their feeling, which may sound dumb but it actually helps with some people and make work for them. But in all honesty my advice won’t stop someone from being stressed out, it’s just how the person perceives my advice. I can only help to the best of my ability. Stress will always be there but that person just has to control what stress means to them and to be more open minded about stress to make sure they make the right decisions.

Sa’Niya October 21, 2014 · 12:46 pm

Correct, stress can affect your life in so many ways. Your health is in danger as the article says. One time I had so much homework, it became overwhelming. I still did it, but I think it affected how I felt the next day in school. I was tired and didn’t want to be bothered and I, took that anger out on teachers. Sometimes stress can affect your life and impact bad choices. I think that stress is mainly built when you cant accomplish you want to do.

Angelic L. October 21, 2014 · 7:51 pm

I believe 100 percent that stress can lead many people to poor decisions being made. I can guarantee you that stress is something that every person deals with on a day-to-day basis. With students who have assignments and tests almost every day and parents who are dealing with work and raising children, it can lead many people to go crazy and damage them mentally and physically. I personally have had times during my years of living where I’ve felt burdened with school, family, friends, and basketball. But with all that stress, I had to take a step back and clear an hour or two of time spent on myself, not worrying about the overload of assignments waiting for me. After a time of rest, I was able to get back to them and I felt new as ever and found the motivation to complete all of them in a timely fashion. Studies show and in my own understanding, I believe woman make wiser decisions than men because of women’s capability to handle stress appropriately. Stress only makes men take more risky chances because it may make them feel more “manly” in a way. Stress can really carry such a heavy burden that may in time make you do stupid things. For example, I was watching an episode from One Tree Hill and the character; Julian was stressed about many things including filling studio time to very important businessmen. In the time of that happening, he was suppose to drop his baby son off at day care. On the way there, he made a quick stop at the bank and forgot about his son in a fully heated car. This shows that even responsible parents make critical mistakes that may or may not cost them. I believe everyone deals with stress different and the level of stress depends on the person. If someone is dealing with a high level of stress every single day, I believe they should see someone about that. No one should have to cope with stress alone, especially intense stress matters that lead you to poor decision-making skills. If someone has mad a poor decision like leaving a baby in a heated car, they should really see someone like a therapist to handle their stress level or even a doctor, so they can prescribe a certain medication to them, most importantly to people with abnormal stress levels. No matter what, stress will always be apart of our lives and we as people need to learn different coping skills and dealing with it head on to avoid poor decision-making skills.

Jessica G. October 21, 2014 · 7:56 pm

When you’re under a certain amount of stress, some tend to work well under the pressure while others may tend to just simply give up. I have had some experiences that both contradict and support the study made about women working better under stress and about men taking more risks. In some cases where I am under stress I usually want the feeling to pass by and do whatever it takes to get what I have to get done out of the way. Me being in a hurry causes me to not give a full effort and therefore contradicts the study. In other cases however, stress does help me to make better decisions. For example, I am a junior in high school trying to get both an academic and athletic scholarship. Getting good grades and performing good on the field is very stressful and I worry about not being good enough and it is very stressful, but the stress makes me want to do better in order to achieve my goal. When it comes to other people being stressed I do see that is also depends on what type of situation they are in if they let the stress consume them or if they over come it.

Men and women do handle stress differently than each other. Men were always made since back of the days to be the dominant ones and make the decisions, but that does not mean that the choices that they make will always be the right ones. There are all different kinds of men in this world and there are some weak minded men and some strong minded men. The weaker men may not make the best choices under stress because they get scared and they worry to much about making a mistake. The strong men may handle stress more differently because they know how to stay calm and not overthink the situation. Staying calm for a man is a hard thing to do especially under stress. Just like the saying goes women are every mans backbone. A woman may help a man with stress because he knows he can depend on her. Women tend to use their feelings and emotions when it comes to stress and that is a main factor to stress in my opinion. Also, women already have a lot of stress on them, that’s just how they were created. They have a tough puberty stage, go through roller coasters of feelings and emotions, and most importantly were made to have a family. All of those things are mostly what may cause women stress and they are able to handle it better from their experiences.

According to the study, men make poor decisions under stress than they would under a controlled situation. I think men act like this because they want to look like they are tough and dominant to make a decision at any time. Making a decision should be made after completely thinking through and knowing what the consequences could be. Some men are not all that wise at times and make decisions based on that very moment they are in.

In cases where there may be stress in decision making, the best thing to do is to look at any other options that might be available. The best way to make a decision is to take time to also think about the outcomes and how a bad decision can be affective.

My best advice for someone who is under stress is to take a deep breath and stay calm. If you really think about it all stress is going to do is give you a huge headache and no one wants that. The way you deal with stress can show our weakness or your strengths. Your strengths are what you want to be shown so let the stress lose and beat poor decision making.

Cynthia U. October 21, 2014 · 11:15 pm

Stress is an aspect of life that everyone goes through at one point. Each individuals respond to stress in a variety of ways. There have been times where I’ve witnessed people do certain actions that support the experiments mentioned in the article. They let stress take control over them and let it affect their decision making. These people’s minds are just racing from one thing to another that they don’t fully think through on what they are about to decide. I have gone through stress and it has affected my decision making. There have been times where I don’t have my mind cleared and I make ridiculous decisions that hurt me later on. Making the wrong or right decision has nothing to do with the sex of a person. Being a woman does not necessarily mean that they will make wiser decisions than men because it all depends on how that individual is. Making decisions has to do with ethic, logic, reason, etc. Any individual can think through what options they have and be smart about what they are deciding on or any individual can jump right in ahead and go with the easy path that holds the worst decision they have ever made. Whether a person is a female or male, they are capable of reasoning what the consequences of their decisions can be or what effect their decision will make. Although men and women can both make wise decisions, men have a different mindset. When it comes to taking risks, like in the studies, men have the nature to “man up” and go with the “all or nothing.” It is something that they can’t help because it is like an instinct they have. Women on the other hand, are always too careful with what they do and it really isn’t in their nature to take those risks. Minimizing the role stress plays in decision making can be done by not over thinking situations. Usually when people are stressed it is because they keep thinking over and over about current events that include mistakes made, things gone wrong, etc. People have to be able to face the fact that life isn’t always fair and sometimes things won’t go the way they planned it would be. They should just distract themselves with something else and clear their minds before they decide on something. They also have to realize that stress will only affect their health and it won’t help them solve any of their problems. If someone is going under stress I would tell them to take a chill pill. They need to know that if all fails they can just get back up and stay on track and they shouldn’t have to worry about what’s in store for them after failing. Also, if they keep feeling stressed, I would tell them to be more responsible on what they are handling and I would tell them that if they can’t handle too much on their plate, they shouldn’t have to stretch themselves so thin. Those who are stressed should just let loose and relax a little more. Stressing after every little thing creates more stress which is not fun at all. Stressed people should go out and have fun with friends or family. Having fun doesn’t hurt and it would sure help stressed people relax. They should just take a moment to take a deep breath and enjoy the moment.

Jennifer B. October 21, 2014 · 11:55 pm

I personally have witnessed someone, who is my uncle, who doesn’t make good decisions when he’s stressed. When he is stressed he drinks and goes to the casino. For him this is a way to calm himself down from all the stress. As a result he gambles and loses his money and harms his health because of the drinking. This supports the study that men do make poor choices when they’re stressed. However I do know a situation that happens that contradicts the observation that women make better decisions. My mom goes shopping and yells when she is stressed. This is not a good thing to do because she will just be spending her money, and have a negative attitude which is not good.
Women do make better decisions than men but not all the time. Not all women think alike and make good decisions when stressed. The studies from the experiments like drawing cards and playing gambling games have proven that women do think more about their decisions. Men like to take risks when when they’re stressed. The examinations Credit Suisse made in Global Corporations from 2005 to 2011 also showed proof of the positive impact women make when stressed.
According to studies men take more risks when stressed because they’re more focused on gaining the achievement, even when they don’t have a high chance. For example, they observed in all the gambles that men made, they are more focused on big wins even though they were less likely. They are less aware than women that they make risky strategies because like I said before they aim for the win, instead of thinking about the decision carefully.
One can minimize the role stress plays when making decisions by improving their decision making and start thinking carefully about every decision they make. The more you think about a decision you’re about to make the better because you know the consequences it can bring so you won’t be freaking out later on. It’s a bad idea to just make any decision because if it’s the wrong one it can lead to consequences and bring even more stress to oneself which can harm one’s health.
Some advice I have for someone who has lots of stress is that they should be more organized with their things. They should also try to rethink their actions if they are stressed. I, myself do get stressed at times. The best advice would be to try to do things ahead of time and organize things so there is more time to think. If one is stressed they shouldn’t just make any decision because of time. They should try to calm down and think carefully of the decisions or actions they will make. Trying to reduce stress is very important because stress can harm your health and make you go crazy.

Ulysses P. October 22, 2014 · 12:47 am

Many people face themselves taking decisions that could benefit or hurt them in the future. Stress may affect how a person thinks and reacts to a certain situation. Decision making mainly depends on the characteristic of the person. In this case it is gender; women are known to be more careful and wise than men. This is backed up by the studies shown in the article “Are Women Better Decision Makers?” were woman took a more conservative path compared to the men who took the path with the greater risk. However this is not always true. I have seen some of my classmate that react in totally distinct forms to stress of earthier taking a test or an assignment.
It is a widely known fact that woman mature faster than men. This may be an advantage for a woman’s decision making with stress because they would be able to think and process a problem with a clear and broad perspective. On the other hand, most men would take a few seconds or “jump the gun” on making a decision. In the end, there are greater amounts of woman who make wiser decisions under stress than the majority of men.
No human in the right mind would like to be stressed out. All the people that have experience stress agree that they would try to keep themselves out of stress or stress to a minimum in the future. A possible reason for why men are willing to take a high risk while in stress is because they do not feel comfterble and they would do to anything to be back at their comfort zone. In the studies shown in the article “Are Women Better Decision Makers?” to simulate a stress environment in the lab the participants had to submerge their hands in 35° cold water. This brought the participants out of their comfort zones. The men most likely couldn’t concentrate as well as the women because they were focused on their freezing hands.
To minimize the role stress can play in decision making is by focusing on a single task and to forget about everything else until that certain task is complete. By doing this the mind is less stressed out because it is not thinking about multiple things in a single moment. When the mind is worry free and focused on a certain task it would be more alert and open to solve/finish a certain task.
The advice that I would give someone who is experiencing a lot of stress is to back track the origin of the cause of stress. After finding out what is stressing the person out, he or she could decide what to change about her life style or schedule. For example, if someone reflects that the cause of there stress is because their scheduled is chocked. They may move the activities for another time or they can get rid of some activities to make time to relax. Another example may be that the person procrastinates. The solution to this is to do sections of the work way before the due date. This way the person won’t be stressed out to finish the work all in one day.

Lena P October 22, 2014 · 10:22 am

I believe that stress can let women make better choices and let men take greater risk according to the experiments. In my opinion, women can have better decision-making skills under stress because when they experience nervous tension, they tend to be prudent. When they become nervous, men, on the other hand, become more forthright thereby they do not think as cautiously as women does. Women can experience great amount of stress, causing them to be excessively cautious about every decision they make. When men get extremely stressed, I suppose, they are willing to make much bigger risk simply because of subtle things such as prestige. Therefore, no matter men or women under excessive stress can result in uncontrollable situations due to their discretion or impertinence. However, as for me, these opinions about humans’ behaviors under stress are not absolutely correct. Some particular men may be more cautious when making decisions under stress than women do. Similarly, some women may also tend to take big risk when experiencing stress. Each individual has different case. When stress become an issue to affect people’s decision-makings, they should come up with a way to minimize the effect that stress has on them. Usually, continuous practicing can make a person gradually control his or her thought processes, thereby controlling one’s skill of making decision. A person having this issue can try to consciously control himself or herself to not being so prudent or imprudent. His or her friends can remind him or her when he or she makes an extremely cautious or impetuous decision. When under a lot of stress, a person first need to calm down and release stress a little bit. Then he or she should use the ability trained through constant practices and make decisions under control. Although men and women are psychologically different, I believe that women and men can both make good decisions through great effort.

Abby C October 22, 2014 · 6:02 pm

When someone is under a certain amount of stress I think that it affects how you act and the decision you make. In any ways that I have seen someone stressed it was always in a negative way but sometimes it can be to your advantage. One reason is if something is putting you through a lot of stress you can try to fix it and not just give up. However most teenagers don’t know how to handle there stress in a good and tend to give up or turn to other things. I have had many times when I have been stressed out and I never handle it the right way. I have also had family members that have been through a lot of stress and it has changed how they act and changed them. We make our own decisions based on what we feel is right for us even if it isn’t. From watching experiences by other people, I can tell you men don’t make wiser decisions than women and the same the other way around. I do not think that women make better decisions with dealing with stress I think it depends on what you think about the situation and your mind frame. especially teenagers go through a lot of stress to fit in with the “crowd” so they will do anything just to fit in. Stress can come from many different things like school, family, friends, sports and much more but I think that more people need to learn how to deal with it and get help if something is really stressing them out. I do think that men however do make risker decision when dealing with stress when women tend to be more cautious. I also think that men feel that they need to make more decisions because they are the ones that are supposed to be the brave ones and work full time to pay there bills. If a man does not work it is more frowned upon then if a women doesn’t work. How you can minimize stress while making good decision making is to just not think about how much it will effect you and just react to whatever your situation is in a positive way. Stress is going to be apart of everyone’s life and people are going to have to adjust to it and get used to dealing with it. If you are under a lot of stress I think you either need to go out with friends and have fun to keep your mind off of it. If you want to be alone I suggest that you go and treat yourself to something even if it is just getting your nails done, going to the mall, or just walking around the block. No matter what, stress will always be apart of our lives and we as people need to learn different coping skills and dealing with it head on to avoid poor decision-making skills.Your strengths are what you want to be shown so let the stress lose and beat poor decision making.

Nikki R October 23, 2014 · 12:29 am

Stress is inevitable in our life time, and majority of our decisions revolve around the amount of stress we are under. Stress has caused me to make decisions rather hastily. Under the pressure of school, family, and extracurricular activities, my life is a struggle between stressing myself out or give up on everything to get time off. When I have too much to do, I’d just rather not do my homework or chores, impacting both my school life and home life. School because my grades can drop if I slack off too much, and home life because most likely I will get in trouble with my parents. Even my parents fail under stress sometimes, if life becomes a little too complicated they withdraw themselves from work or regular activities just to get a break.
Men and women do and do not compare when it comes to stress. I personally believe that men do not make good decisions under stress, because not only are they fueled by anger and other hormones and emotions, but they become careless and agree to almost anything. While women are a little more hard-headed. Women under stress over think things and end up stressing themselves out more than necessary. Generally, both men and women alike do not make thorough decisions under stress.
With the studies showing that more men are willing to put more on the line under stress is probably that men do not think further down the line. I think that they decide what is best for them in the moment than whatever could happen in the future. Unlike women, men do not overthink things as most women do, and I believe that that encourages them to be more risky because they are trying to be both courageous and “dangerous” about the choices they make.
Stress makes all decisions harder than what they need to be. The quote I remember most is often said by one of my teachers is, “everyone has to break at some point,” and I think stress is what pushes us the most when making a decision. Constantly being questioned or being insisted to make a decision doesn’t give us time to think and usually people fall towards the easiest way which is mostly the worst decision we can make. Our minds aren’t capable of making decisions when there is too much happening or too much being piled on the endless problems we encounter. This can usually be minimized by making one forget the problem at hand and relax by enjoying the simpler things in life or even giving them time to think or what is actually happening.
Most people would just encourage someone to decide to get over their problems, but it shouldn’t be like that. I encourage people to take their time and really think about the possibilities and risks of the final decision they choose. Also, never change their decisions based on what people tell them or what is right to other people. The decisions that we make should be OUR decision, not the general populations. Stress shouldn’t be the biggest influence in our lives, an open mind that isn’t struggling for air should be.

Scarlet C. October 23, 2014 · 12:54 am

My aunt Marlina is someone who was making bad decisions under stress. When she felt stressed she would go out for drinks at a bar than drive herself home. Not only is that bad decision making, it’s illegal. One night when she went out she tried to drive herself home again and ended up side swiping her car getting onto the 210 freeway and totaling it out. Women most defiantly make wiser decisions than men. Studies even show that we do. Women are more responsible in general. Men don’t think about the outcomes of their decision before they make it. That doesn’t necessary mean that all women do think things through but a great amount of women do. Stress could cause men to take more risks. In the computer gambling game men under stress pumped 50% more than women did, risking everything. Then again men have this big idea about being a risk taker. It’s like a label, if they don’t take a risk they feel as if other men think they’re cowards. All that might contribute to why men tend to take more risks under stress. When making decisions under stress is like trying to read when there is loud music all around. The mind is distracted and not focused. When making decisions always be sure to have a clear mind. It’s a lot harder when stress creeps up from behind. Take a minute to calm down and think about one situation at a time. Once the decision is made think about the outcomes and how it will affect your life. Maybe take a long peaceful walk, they’re very calming and can clear any train of thought. Just think about all the decisions that need to be made and of course what the outcome might be. My advice is to someone who obtains a lot of stress is to try to slow down their train of thought. They’re stressed because they have much going through they’re mind they just can’t think straight. Go try to take a walk, meditate, listen to music, or even take a hot soothing bath to clear the mind and relieve some stress. Also a person who seeks stress needs to understand that they don’t want stress to control their life nor would they want it to change who they are as a person. Nobody would want to be unhappy or see another person unhappy due to stress.

Priscilla S October 23, 2014 · 1:48 am

Everyone from about the ages 12 and above have most likely experienced stress, weather male or female, everyone has once felt the feeling of being stressed and under pressure. Stress causes many people to feel rushed, under pressure and worried but one can truly overpower stress. I myself as a junior in high school has experienced stress and I believe when I’m under stress I make better decisions because I want to stay away from adding even more stress. I definitely agree with the study that stress makes people make better decisions because I have experienced being stressed and I have witnessed many others feeling stressed but continuing to make good decisions.
Females tend to be the multitaskers, the superwoman’s, the ones that can handle many things at once and I truly believe females have better decisions than men. I believe women are better than men when under pressure and stressed because we as females are used to having a lot on our plate and dealing with an abundance of situations at once. One should think of it as this; women carry all of their problems in one HUGE bag and men have many boxes filled with different problems; women carry all of their problems with them everywhere and they cannot escape from it but men have boxes that they can run away from or switch from. Women are used to dealing with stress and worriedness but men are the opposite, they can’t deal with stress and problems all at once as much as women.
Men tend to take risks and gambits because they aren’t as worried about the outcomes as they should be, all they are worried about is finishing the task and stopping the stress. Men love to take the easy way out and they aren’t worried about fixing the problem correctly, they are more focused on getting things done and stopping the stress from continuing. I believe stress makes men take greater risks because they aren’t used to handling so much weight on their shoulders, they would rather take a risk without knowing the outcome instead of fixing the problem and knowing the outcome would be positive.
By minimizing the role stress plays in any situation is trying to forget about everything one is stressing about. When one knows they have to make an important decision but are under a lot of stress and pressure one has to put away the stress and continue to make the decision as good as possible. When one is under stress, one feels tired, worried and pressured; all those factors can interfere with making a good decision so one has to get rid of the stress and add good decision making skills.
My advice I give someone who experiences a lot of stress is to relax, breathe and know that everything is going to be okay. Reassuring oneself that they will get through it affects one greatly, one will feel less stressed and more positive. If one is always negative and constantly procrastinating then obviously one will feel stressed but if one is positive and a hard worker then the stress will be taken away from one’s life. Stress comes in all different shapes and sizes but it can be kicked in the butt, it can be defeated and it can be slowly taken away from one’s life.

Diane G October 23, 2014 · 3:08 am

When under a lot of stress, one’s ability to make decisions is affected; but not necessarily in a bad way. I can say that I have personally had experiences in which I was under a lot of pressure and had to make a decision. An example of this was at the end of my school’s first quarter, I had to decide between two classes (theater or law enforcement). I love acting and being on stage in front of people, and I wouldn’t mind pursuing a career in acting, but I also love the idea of studying criminology and finding a career in that area of social sciences. In the end I chose law enforcement, not because I loved it more, but because I realized it was more realistic for me to pursue a career in criminal justice. I think my decision supports the studies described in the Opinion essay because I am a woman, and I strongly believe that I made the right decision that’ll help me get to where I want to be therefore making it a wise decision made under stress.
I think both men and women have the equal ability to make wise decisions in times of stress. I also believe that there are more women than men that make these wise decisions. The studies show that men are bigger risk takers, and women are more cautious when it comes to decision making, so because of this women technically make wiser decisions. If men were to just slow down a bit, and think about the pros and cons of each decision then they too would make “wiser” decisions. Unfortunately, men don’t like to slow down so they are going to keep making decisions without thinking twice about it and in the end there’s a big chance that they’ll regret it.
According to the studies, men are willing to take greater risk than women. This is probably because men are crazier and braver than women; men are much more daring compared to women. Men are the type to one day see something risky and “fun” to do and they’ll go ahead and do it. For example, my boyfriend once decided that he was going to get on the railing next to the top of the staircase and jump off and land on the floor about eight feet below. He did it, hurt his ankle, and walked it off but that’s just the type of person he is, he’ll make a spur of the moment decision and follow through. Now, if someone is willing to make such a spontaneous and crazy decision without any stress, imagine what stress will do to the poor guy.
One can minimize the role stress plays when making decisions by really thinking about each decision they make. Look at the positives and negatives of each possible decision so that in the end one can make the right choice. Another way to minimize stress is to… forget about everything! Take a breather, relax for a bit, eat a cookie and drink a milkshake. Once this is done, the person should feel calm and at ease and ready to make the big decision. This is usually what I do when I am under stress; I forget about the rest of the world and focus on me only, I get to be selfish and that’s okay because after that I feel as if I can take on anything and the stress doesn’t bother me no more.
For all the people out there who are experiencing a lot of stress, I advise them to calm down. Whatever is going on in their life and is stressing them out can wait long enough for a person to take a well deserved break. Go do something fun (NOT crazy!) and forget about the stress for a while. Once that’s done, get back to the task/decision at hand and get it resolved. I also suggest that if one were to follow my advice and forget about everything for a while, don’t procrastinate afterwards. Go have fun for a while, yes, but don’t have so much fun to the point where one’s procrastinated so much that there’s no more time for anything because that will result in a huge failure, and that really sucks.

Khadijatul October 23, 2014 · 10:19 am

I think stressful people can not make anything properly. At that time women makes wiser decisions than man, because at that times women think about that and their thinking is more deep than man. when one women takes a decision, they think about their future and their family. man are very first about thinking.They makes a decision very fast and they do not think about their future and family. Stress also affected of study and makes people sick and embarrassed.Stress can be cause of heart block, so i want to say everyone that , don’t make a stress. Be happy and makes a right decisions.

Deddeh3a October 23, 2014 · 10:26 am

stress is a feelings that we all experience weather man or woman.But most times when man are in a stressful situation they do not know how to deal with it like woman.woman are very strong when it comes to problem solving.they are always careful and take time to handle situations.But in my own opinion I will say life is too short take it easy no matter the problem or situation.things happen.

genesis p October 23, 2014 · 6:51 pm

My opinion if whether stress effects the decisions that oneself make is that its possible that stress could affect oneself from making a good decision,For example if your 100% stressed at work and oneself had a decision about probably having a easy way out of all the work that oneself have to do ,but oneselfs know that its bad then your probably gonna do it anyway because oneself wont actually be thinking about the consequences onselfs just going to be thinking about whats literally easier for oneself because some people really cant handle so much stress it really gets to them and drives them insane and studies show that stress could really drive people crazy and could also lead to making them sick so my final answer is that its positive for stress to affect your ability to make good decisions. But on the contradiction of this their are people who could really handle stress because apparently they are used to it because theirs honestly differnt types of people and their bodies and brain can adjust and work in a way for them to handle it.
Honestly yes i have witnessed or been told about that stress coukld really drive someone crazy because it really affects the brain and how oneself conducts , and this was from a close family friend that my mom told me about she said that their was this couple they were very friendly and loving people ,but the husband had to work all the time ,even sometimes on the weekends and that he started to get so stressed out and was so irritataed all the time so apparently he had so much stress i mean like it was 100% stress and he worked in a type of business i dont really recall what the business he worked in was called but he was a businesman and he had so much stress about money and bills that it really started to affect his brain and the way that he thought from bad and good so apparently one day he went home and him and his wife got into a pretty ugly argument and there was yelling and he couldn’t take it anymore so just bursted and started beating his wife because he was fed up with all the stress and anger that he had inside of him so that affected his decisions from right from wrong and that is something that i heard about that a family memeber witnessed.
In a honest opinion i dont think that women would make a wiser decision then men would i think that stress affects both genders the same type of way their isnt any differnce that a women would have that a male wouldnt if a person gets fed up with so much stress that they dont know what to do anymore their both going to probably go insane either way or probably start getting sick because if a scientists was to make an experiment about the levels of stress that a male and a female have they would most likely end up in the same level.
I think that stress would probably make man have a greater risk of taking a chance because at this point their fed up and in their thinking to themselves like whatever what happens happens you know i cant lose anything else but i could gain something and thats my opinion on why men would just go for it and stop caring wether its right or wrong and they would also be willing to do anything that better and easier than what they would be dealing with at that point.
I think onself can minimize stress from their lives by not taking to many tasks at once and giving themselves a vaction like if its your kids that are stressing oneself out ,hire a babysitter for the weekend and just go out and let everything off your chest for the weekend but of course not every weekend because oneself should spend time with your family too,but once in awhile its nice to just let go for a little and not care about your promblems . because honestlty the problem that i think most adults have is that they carry to much on their back they dont take a second to look around at the beautiful world thats around them so that my advice to most adults with stress just stop for a minute and treasure whats around you and live in the now because stressing isnt gonna get oneself anywhere but affect your health.
The advice that i have for someone who is experiencing stress is pretty much what i said in my last paragraph and that is to stop and just put your feet up amnd relax with a cup of tea whatever oneself have to be doing just stop doing it and atleast take one hour for oneself and go outside breath in the fresh air because yoneself probaly hasnt breathed with all the stress they have in their shoulders so honestly thats the best advice i could give to a fellow friend as a teenager because i havent really experienced as much stress as most people because i try not to have so much by having my me time once in a while and stayinh home and just watching a good movie.

Angel L October 23, 2014 · 8:37 pm

I have indeed had my own occasions of experiencing a great deal of stress. The time I had experienced a great deal of stress was when my Ap English Teacher told me I had to print out my project for AP English. This was due to the laptop, that my Teacher owned, not being able to open up the powerpoint. At that moment, I had begun to worry. The Teacher had informed me that once I got home, I needed to either save the project to a PDF or a PowerPoint and send it through email. My Teacher also told me that I could also print my project and turn it in before school. Once school was done for the day, I went straight to home and got to work. Although, there was another problem that occurred, I didm’t know how to save my project to a PDF or a PowerPoint. Then there was the fact that the printer, the only one in the whole house, was not working. When this had dawned me, I had begun to experience great deals of stress. I asked my Mother to help me with the printer but she told me that the problem was that the printer only printed Microsoft papers. This had caused me even more stress because we did not have PowerPoint on our computer. This stress to print my project was to much to bear and so I began to ask my neighbors for help. Unfortunately, they all either didn’t have computer and printer or didn’t have PowerPoint and a printer. By the time I came back inside I had missed dinner and I just decided to skip it entirely, which lead me to going to bed simply starving. Also, my Father hadn’t came home yet from work so I couldn’t ask him for help. With all the stress I was experiencing, I tried to find someway to make the printer work with the project I already had. Unfortunately, by this time I had forgotten about the rest of my homework that I needed to finish. It wasn’t until 8:00pm that my Father arrived from work. When he finally arrived I told him of my situation. After fully informing him, he looked at me as if I was thinking straight and told me “Angel, why didn’t you just ask your Mom to take you to downtown Rialto to get your project printed up real quick at UGot Mail, you know the office place with all the computers and printers.” While this information had indeed managed to calm me, it at the same time angered me. I could have just had my mother take downtown, which is a 5 minute trip from MY HOUSE, and just print my project there. All rushed, and relieved, I immediately asked my Father if he can take me there. Tiredly he agreed, which made me feel bad, to drive to UGOT Mail and everything was resolved. However, their was still one problem I had to deal with, I wasted so much time on trying to figure out a way to make the printer print my project that I had forgotten to work on my many other homework assignments. This had lead me to having to stay up late till 2:00am.

I do not think that women make wiser decisions than men in times of stress. The reason why this is because of what everybody, including myself, has encountered at least 5 or more times in their life. Sure there are times when women do make better decisions then men in times of stress but there are also times when men make better decisions then women in times of stress. I remember when my Mother had told me about a time, when she was attending the University of California Riverside, that something shocking happened. It was during a Child Development Class, which my Mother was taking last year, the whole class was struggling with keeping up with their homework. This of course lead to much stress on all the students, plus there was the fact if one didn’t pass one will have to retake the class. Then all that stress was simply to much for one teenage girl, she said out loud that, “My parents are not paying $2,015 just so I can do so much homework!” That statement of hers shocked everyone in classroom, including the professor. Apparently, her stress caused her to make scene and lead her to doing something self-affecting. That teenage girl decided not to do the rest of her homework the many following days. Eventually, she ended up being dropped from the class with an F.

I believe men take more or greater risk in times of stress because of gender filling. Through out a majority of history, men have been the dominate race. They where the ones in the military, they were the ones ruled and the ones who decided for the majority of people. Then there are plenty of times when great obstacles came forth and the men, or man, where put in much and had to decide what course of action was to be taken. All of these past times of men being decision makers is still present in the minds of many men today. This causes men to see themselves as the one who must make decision quick otherwise they’ll have to face the consequences of their lack of action. This is why believe men are more willing to take more or greater risks, it’s because of their gender back round.

Personally, I minimize the role of stress that plays in my decision making by undermining the choices at hand. While the choice at hand is still to be considered important I will indeed feel less stress. It’s like taking a breather to calm myself, I’d pause for a moment to breathe in and then breathe out, thus I feel more relaxed. I have done this in many occasions when I have to make decision, mostly when I’m taking a test at school. I’ll simply stop for a moment and undermine the many, or few, choices i’m given and start thinking logically. Plus, I try to keep myself from over rushing myself to finish so I can feel that I can that times on my side, even though I know thats not true. This is honestly just part of my method to boost my confidence. After, calming myself and thinking logically of the many or few choices I have at hand I chose the one I feel is best.

I would tell that person who appears to experience a lot of stress to simply use my undermining method. Although, should my undermining method not work there is some advice that I have for the person to follow. What one should do is stop sit down and think of the things that make them happy. This will enable that person to feel more calm. However, one is to be sure that the moment they are calm to get back to what it is that they are stressed about immediately. Another thing one can do is to make a list of things that causes them stress and think of which task at hand to deal with first. Also, if it’s just one thing that the person is stressing about one should simply stop calm themself and think logically of how they can approach what it is they are stressing about. I’m positive that these pieces of advice will work for all people who experience a lot of stress.

David V October 23, 2014 · 9:41 pm

Personally I have had experiences with stress. When I was in middle school I was extremely stressed out. Always worried about test, quizzes, and homework. Always wanting to get the best grade and try my hardest. But begin stressed isn’t healthy for you. Once I hit high school I just started to go with the flow and stop begin worried about every little thing that was going on. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t try your hardest all I’m saying is that you shouldn’t be stressed over it. Especially don’t let stress impact your decision making either. I do not think that women make better decisions then men during times of stress. I say this because when women are stressed they seem to be in an odd mood they can be set off easier etc. When men are stressed at least for my self I can multi task when I’m stressed I just don’t shut down. Stress influences men to take bigger and greater risk because as I said before they can multi task when stressed which puts them at greater risk of health problems etc. You can minimize the way stress influences your decision making is just try not to worry, failing a test or a quiz isn’t the end of the world you can always make it up on the next one. My advice for someone who is experiencing a lot of stress is just relax. You don’t need to be stressed about everything. Everything will be ok regardless. Go with the flow always try your best but don’t stress!!!!!

Noemi M. October 23, 2014 · 9:50 pm

Stress has the ability to affect every individual no matter their race, gender, or social status. It causes a negative impact on a persons health and their ability to make wise decisions. Many have the tendency to reach for perfect results, these high expectations create mental anxiety thus distracting their ability to analyze the situation to the fullest. Having one’s mentality in a distraught state might worsen the situation rather than improve it.
The results of the studies presented in the Opinion essay declare that women have a greater ability to make wise and useful decisions when under the influence of stress rather than men. The results of these studies are consequences of both lab experiments and data from real life situations. Based on my own observations I can neither agree nor disagree with the stated results. My opinion is a consequence of my daily interaction with my imperfect parents. Many times have I witnessed my parents under stress and I can not say which is better at handling such situations because their ability’s compliment one another. They are both conscience of their responsibility to maintain a sane mentality , and although they sometimes seem to act like a chicken running without its head, they each express their viewpoints so that together they can analyze the situation form all angles and then make the best decision they possibly can. They work as a team to make decisions and once that decision is made they take action to ensure the success of it.
Everybody makes mistakes because we are all perfectly imperfect that way, both men and women, however each gender seems to have a different mentality from the other. As the article stated , men tend to go for the bigger risk in order to obtain that slim chance of success while women on the other hand tend to base their decisions on the probability of success . In my opinion , it is the mature and more experienced person who makes the wise decisions, for example, a man might not be able make a wiser decision than a woman if the woman has greater knowledge and maturity than said man.The situation is a great factor of who makes the best decision.
Stress can lead to harsh decisions. One’s need to make the wise decision can overpower one’s ability to succeed in doing so. As a consequence ,studies such as the ones that appear in the article prove that men tend to take a greater risk than women in order to obtain success. Perhaps the man might be willing to take that chance because at the moment that is the only thought residing in the mind – success. Because of that they have no reason to be thinking of any other method to obtain what they desire.
In order to reach a wise decision a person’s mind must be clear of any other influences, including stress. To do so it is essential to avoid stress, if possible , to do so one may avoid procrastination and continue to gain as much knowledge as possible of all and any subject. As a society we grant great importance to stress and enlarge its impact on our lives , it would be to everybody’s benefit to eliminate the negative connotation of stress and instead dominate it by keeping one’s mind on their ability to reach the solution rather than the obstacles they will face in their path towards that successful solution.
Stress is inevitable, one can not control when it will or will not be part of their lives. However, one can control how it impacts theirs life. To do is is important to maintain a positive point of view on the situation and to remember that one is not alone. There are people that are surely willing to help and collaborate with one in order to succeed.

Xochitl D. October 23, 2014 · 10:07 pm

(1) I’ve learned through experience stress can make one make risky decisions. For example just as described in the essay, under stress my friends and I tend to make a pros and cons list and choose our path wisely from there.
(2) Women make wiser decisions than men because for the most part males are very impulsive. Women tend to be more rational and often think before they act. For example my mom would never jump off a plane even if she would be given a large sum of money because it’s risky.
(3) Men are the complete opposite of women. Men tend to crave the thrill of adrenaline and enjoy testing their luck. Going back to the the example of jumping off a plane I know my brothers would jump off a plane whether money was or was not involved for no apparent reason. This shows the differences between men and women.
(4) One can minimize the role stress plays in decision making by taking time and actually thinking about the impact their decision might have. When one thinks before they act/ speak there is a huge difference.
(5) I would advice this said stressed person to go out and see nature for relaxation and for thinking time. Nature is very beautiful and also very calming. Whether it’s seeing the sunset, sun rise, going to the beach or just looking at the night sky, nature can help sooth ones soul. Besides soothing nature can also clear ones mind and help make better decisions.