A friend is nearing graduation and has received a couple of job offers. “I went on the first interview,” she says, “and I really liked the company, but I know you shouldn’t go with your first impressions on difficult decisions. You should be completely rational and not let your emotions get in the way.” Are emotions always barriers to rational decision making? In what ways can emotions help guide our decisions?

While watching television, you and a friend hear about a celebrity who punched a fan in a restaurant. “I just lost it,” the celebrity said. “I saw what I was doing, but I just couldn’t control myself.” According to the television report, the celebrity was sentenced to anger management classes. “I’m not excusing the violence,” your friend says, “but I’m not sure anger management classes are any use either. You can’t control your emotions; you just feel them.” What example could you give your friend of ways in which we can attempt to control our emotions?

One of your friends has just been dumped by her boyfriend, and she is devastated. She has spent days in her room, crying and refusing to go out. You and your roommate decide to keep a close eye on her during this tough time. “Negative emotions are so destructive,” your roommate says. “We would all be better off without them.” What would you tell your roommate? In what ways are negative emotions critical for our survival and success?

A friend is majoring in education. He says: “Today we discussed ways to help disadvantaged kids at school. In particular, the idea of giving cash rewards to high-school students who passed their classes or did well on standardized tests was really popular. But that’s bribing kids to get good grades, and as soon as you stop paying them, they’ll stop studying.” Your friend is assuming that extrinsic motivation undermines intrinsic motivation. In what ways is the picture more complicated?

One of your friends is a gym rat who spends all his free time working out and is very proud of his ripped abdominal muscles. His roommate, though, is very overweight. “I keep telling him to diet and exercise,” your friend says, “but he never loses any weight. If he just had a little more willpower, he could succeed.” What would you tell your friend? When an individual has difficulty losing weight, what factors may contribute to this difficulty?