Mindfulness and its impact on rational decision-making errors

Mindfulness and How Mindfulness Reduces Errors

Mindful awareness or simply mindfulness is a process which the observation of ones mental, emotional or physical experience in an active an open way .it entails one being attentive to an experience which is open to open without being judgmental in whichever way possible. This is a quality which involves paying attention and always being aware. Research has proven that training mindfulness will lead to an improvement in focus, concentration, accuracy, reduction of errors, lowering anxiety, mood improvement and helping the immune system such that one will be able to deal with any chronic pain in a better way (Leigh, 2013). Practicing mindfulness leads to a change in the structure of the brain in very limited time which is around 8 weeks. The paper will look at the various dimensions of mindfulness and how this practice leads to an increase of errors when it comes to a rational-decision making process.

Dimensions of mindfulness

Decision making is actually a conscious moment which involves choosing among alternatives that exist with an intention of moving from one state of affairs to another in most cases one which is most desired. There are five main dimensions of mindfulness which will be looked into below.

Intention and content of mindfulness practice: this dimension is about what mindful practice is made up of.it involves looking at the intentions of practicing mindfulness as well the main content of mindful practice.it comprises of why an individual ought to practice mindullness.it is also talks about what mindful practice is all about and the practices involved in this skill.

Bare attention: this involves a clear as well as single minded awareness of what actually occurs to us and in us within moments which are successive during perception.it is known as bare since it only deals with bare facts involved in a perception as displayed through either our five senses or through the mind which for the Buddhist is what comprises the sixth sense.in the course of attending to the impression created by the sixth sense, mindfulness or attention is usually put to merely registering facts, without any form of reaction towards them either through actions, words or commenting mentally which involves self references like disliking or liking (Dreyfus,2010)

Attention control: this dimension refers to the capacity an individual has when it comes to choosing the specific things they normally pay attention to and the ones they completely ignore.in simple terms this is referred to as the ability an individual has when it comes to their concentration. Attention control is perceived to have a close relation with executive functions for instance working memory.

Wholesome emotions: this dimension involves a host of emotions combined together that can have an influence on an individual in the process of making decisions. The wholesome emotions comprise of sates of mind such as fear, anxiety, anger, desire, depression, jealousy and so on. Therefore one has to overcome some of the wholesome emotions in the event where they are making a decision so that they come to a mindful decision (Dreyfus, 2010)

Ethical discernment: this dimension entails making distinctions between the right and wrong things to do on an ethical basis. It is basically being able to make a sound decision from a perception made using the mind or someone's senses. This is making a choice between tow options a right one and a wrong one .normally this discernment is done on an ethical basis and ethics is what guides an individual in the decision they will eventually make.

Link between errors and bias in rational decision making

During rational decision making some decision might end up being bias or comprising of so many errors. There is a link between errors and bias when rational decision making is concerned. When one does not practice mindfulness they might end up reaching decisions which are bias. The bias decisions are what eventually lead to errors in the entire decision making process.

How attribution rules increase error in decision making and perception

Attribution rules set out with the aim of preventing any exploitation of people in any way. These rules therefore have an impact on rational decision making process since they have to be followed and adhered to. Attribution rules increase errors when it comes to the process of making decisions since certain decisions might be made by virtue of abiding by the rules which might lead to errors in the process. They also affect an individual's perception of certain situations since one is forced to think in the same way as the rules even if they do not agree to them. They will therefore change their perception on that specific issue bound by the attribution rules.