Are We In Control of Our Own Decisions?

Dan Ariely, a sought after behavioral economist, speaks about perception as being crucial in decision making - much more than we realize. We aren't as rational as we think.

One specific example that stuck out for me is one referring to organ donating. A study was done across Europe, and very similar countries had very different results in this poll, asking "would you donate your organs once you pass away?". The reason they were so different is because some countries asked "Check the box below if you would like to participate in the organ donor program", while others asked "Check the box if you don't want to participate in the organ donor program". While these countries are very similar in culture (Netherlands vs. Belgium), their answers differ because of how the question was asked.

This type of research is extraordinary because it publicizes a power strategy. So much depends on how things are presented, we often don't understand how little we contribute to our own decisions. Simpler decisions are much more likely to be chosen whether the effects are drastic or not.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/dan_ariely_asks_are_we_in_control_of_our_own_decisions.html