Jonah Lehrer and David Disalvo Blog Comparison

Decision making is an individualized and complex process. Each person makes decisions based on different factors, but the reasoning behind these choices tends to come from a more centralized place. In his blog post "Does Thinking About God Improve our Self Control," Jonah Lehrer delves into the religious aspects that may affect decision making, whether one is conscious of this sensation or not. In a related blog piece David Disalvo looks into "How Feeling Grateful Improves Your Decision Making," which is more or less ultimately related to religion at its core.

The Lehrer piece begins with a personal anecdote, likely purposed towards relating to the reader on a more intimate level. The author's exigence in doing this is purposed towards initially hooking his readers into his otherwise scientific argument. He then includes an intertextual reference to research recently published by Kevin Rounding in Psychological Science. In his study, Rounding discovered "people are better able to resist their desires when thinking about God." This conclusion was found by giving human subjects a choice between being paid less money right away, or waiting to receive more. Those mindful of God were far more likely to pick the latter option, more able to delay gratification. This is not unlike the believe of God, heaven, etc, in which believers restrain from participating in condemnable behavior due to faith in a higher power.

A similar study to the one in the Lehrer piece was referenced in David Disalvo's "How Feeling Grateful Improves Your Decision Making." Although God was never directly mentioned as a factor, the concept of gratitude was the main idea expressed throughout the piece. Disalvo references a very similar study to the one mentioned in the Lehrer piece, which he completed himself. In this specific study the researcher asked participants to write about a situation that either made them feel happy, gratification, or no particular emotion. Participants were then given the option between recieving $54 now or $80 in three days. The subjects preconditioned to feel happiness or no particular emotion opted for the instant cash gratification, while those feeling grateful were far more likely to wait three days for a bigger reward. This is not unlike Kevin Rounding's study, in which the belief of God caused subjects to control themselves from seeking instant gratification. Gratitude itself, is after all a strongly held belief in most religions, therefore those gratuitous participants would more than likely be religious individuals.

 But religion is obviously not required for one to feel gratitude, just as the belief in God is not necessarily required in order for one to include God in his or her decision making process. It is more then, the idea of God that affects the majority of decision making.  Both the Lehrer and Disalvo blog posts are purposed towards delving into the factors that affect our self control in relation to decision making. Each author approaches the topic in a unique, yet undeniably similar way, through intertextualizing an almost identical study.