Name the affect before you reason from it

Explicitly label the emotion you’re experiencing before forming a judgment about the thing that triggered it.

Why it works

Affect influences judgment partly through misattribution: the feeling seems to be about the target (the investment, the person, the risk) when it may be about an unrelated recent event. Research by Schwarz and Clore (1983) found that people used current mood as information about their life satisfaction — until they were asked “how’s the weather?” which reattributed the mood to a different source and removed its effect on judgment. Labeling the affect explicitly (“I’m feeling anxious right now, probably because of the presentation this morning”) reduces its silent influence on unrelated judgments.

How to do it

1. Before evaluating any significant decision, ask: "What am I feeling right now, and what caused it?"
2. Write down the source of the feeling.
3. If the source is unrelated to the decision, explicitly discount the mood as potentially contaminating.
4. Proceed with the evaluation after the attribution is made visible.

Evidence

Schwarz and Clore (1983) found that mood effects on judgment were eliminated when subjects attributed the mood to an external, irrelevant source (weather), suggesting that mood functions as information only when it seems relevant. Subsequent research confirms that labeling and reattributing emotions reduces their behavioral influence. (observational)

Affect that is genuinely about the decision target provides real information; the practice is for reducing contamination from unrelated sources, not for eliminating affect from all judgments.

Sources

• Schwarz & Clore (1983), Mood, misattribution, and judgments of well-being, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Common mistake

Labeling the feeling but keeping it active — “I know I’m anxious, but this really does feel risky” reintroduces the contamination after the acknowledgment.