There are many things that can negatively impact a person; one in many of them is emotional factors. This article will educate individuals on How emotional factors could influence your personal life style choices. It is important to be influenced by logic rather than intense feelings.
What are Emotional Factors?
Among the many, emotional factors highly impact individual performance and outcomes in any activity. When you are affected by it, they affect a person’s confidence, strength, self-esteem and self-control. Some emotional factors examples include, anger, fear, trust, happiness, surprise, and sadness.
If you think about it, if a professional tennis player is feeling happy, they are more prone ot feel optimistic about an upcoming match. This will also help them engage in decisions that carry them forward with conviction.
Why are emotional factors important?
Before we ask ourselves “How emotional factors could influence your personal life style choices” we must consider why emotional factors are important. According to Wirral Safeguarding Children’s Partnerships our confidence has a lot to do with how we are generally feeling and this leads to us building positive relationships in our life.
At the same time, when you feel and express a range of positive emotions we can work, live and study productively. A widely known prove notion is that that a young child’s emotional wellbeing has a strong co-relation to his/her physical and social health. It also impacts their development and their mental health leading to adulthood.
We all come across periods in our lives where we tend to feel the blues and thus our emotional health is not at its best. Some of which includes, when we are stressed, feeling down, or finding it difficult to cope. These factors affect different people in different ways. But some of the emotional factors that influence mental health include:
- Facing issues at school, college or work
- Suffering loss or bereavement
- Feelings of loneliness
- Getting bullied
- Traumatic events of the past
- Relationship or family problems
- Health concerns
Who are the most Vulnerable?
Some young people can tend to be more vulnerable than others towards experiencing poor emotional health. Some of these things can be due to past events and others might be due to things taking place in the present. These are some of the factors affecting emotions:
- Being neglected or abused as a child
- Witnessing or experiencing violence
- Parental issues, such as alcohol or drug abuse
- Experiencing discrimination
- Being bullied or being isolated in School
- Financial Instability and stress
- Joblessness
- Being homeless
- Suffering from poor health
- Being a young carer
What Factors affect the emotional wellbeing of South Africans
There are many factors emotionally affecting numerous South Africans which include:
- Poverty
- Unemployment
- inequality contributing to mental illness
- Lack of opportunities
- Exposure to violence and abuse
- Chronic stress impacting mental health
- Poor diet
- Lack of exercise
- Substance abuse making mental health issues worse
- Lack of access to mental health care preventing people from getting the help they need
- Family networks can diminish in size due to decreasing fertility and young men migrating for work
- The COVID-19 pandemic increased and worsened depression and anxiety
- Adverse childhood experience contributing to mental health issues
- Hormonal imbalances or neurochemical disruptions impacting cognitive function
What are the emotional factors that could influence your personal life style choices?
There are many factors that impact us emotionally out there and sometimes we cannot avoid it. These are few emotional psychological factors that influence health and eventually our life style choices which consist of:
Motivation
Our motivation is one of the main psychological factors that affect our daily lifestyle and the choices we make. Motivation can be driven by many things, such as personal desires, values. It can also be influenced by external factors such as rewards and social experience.
Perception
Our lifestyle choices are constantly shaped by our perception of the world around us. How we see ourselves, others and our environment influences the decisions we make.
Personality
Every single individual has a personality unique to them which impacts their lifestyle choices. Some people are more adventurous thus they are open to trying new experiences. This leads them to explore differing cuisines, travel locations, cultures and experience adrenaline boosting activities.
Social Influence
We are social beings and who we surround ourselves with has the ability to impact our lifestyles choices. These influences can come from family, friends, co-workers or even who we choose to follow on social media. However, it can also lead to unwanted social pressures resulting in individuals making negative choices, such as drinking, smoking, and gambling.
Cognitive biases
It is through cognitive biases that our brains choose to process information and these are also known as mental shortcuts. These biases tend to impact our lifestyle choices significantly which can sometimes leads to irrational decision making.
On the other hand, conformation bias, also influence and impact our choices by causing us to seek information and supports our existing beliefs. This leads us to make lifestyle choices that might not be beneficial objectively. It is important we remain aware of these biases and ensure we always make rational decisions and avoid trapping ourselves into unhealthy patterns.
Steps to take to improve emotional wellbeing among South Africans
According to the World Health Organisation there are many ways to improve your emotional well-being, including:
- Regularly exercising which helps to improve mood and health
- Getting quality sleep and waking up on time
- Eating a well-balanced diet and drinking plenty of water which helps enhance energy
- Consuming fruits daily to remain healthy such as oranges, bananas, and avocado
- Practising gratitude
- Taking breaks every 15-20mins which helps in decreasing stress
- Connecting with others and building positive relationships which eventually improves mental health
- Practising mindfulness and being present in the moment
- Positive self-talk and avoid negative thinking
- Accepting emotions as they are and avoid supressing them
- Setting goals for a better future
Conclusion
How emotional factors could influence your personal life style choices is one out of many questions people tend to ask. Our lifestyle choices are affected by differing psychological factors. When we understand these factors such as motivation, perception, social influence and cognitive biases, it makes a great difference.
It can empower us into becoming the best version of ourselves while also being aware about our surroundings. And these decisions will positively impact our future in the long-term and this is why it is crucial to lead more purposeful, satisfying and fulfilling lives.
Key Points
- Emotions like anger, happiness, and fear affect our confidence, strength, and decision-making, influencing how we live and work.
- Family, friends, and social experiences heavily influence our emotional state, which in turn affects our lifestyle decisions, either positively or negatively.
- Personal desires and external rewards motivate us to make daily choices, shaping our behaviours and habits.
- Cognitive biases cause us to process information through mental shortcuts, often leading to irrational decisions that may not be beneficial in the long run.
- Practicing mindfulness, exercising, building positive relationships, and eating a healthy diet can enhance emotional health and lead to better lifestyle choices.
FAQs
What are the factors that influence lifestyle choices?
Among the many, socioeconomic status, level of education, family, kin and social networks, gender, age and interpersonal all are factors that influences and affect our lifestyle choices.
How do emotions affect our choices?
Emotions play a key role in shaping our decisions by quickly evaluating experiences and guiding us to respond. While they direct our actions, emotions are rooted in our instinctive survival mechanisms.
What are emotional influences?
Emotional influences include happiness and excitement all of which sometimes seems infectious. The most obvious cases are when someone else is able to share your happiness and also your sorrow. In situations like this bring together and link the emotions of two people.
How do emotions affect our everyday lives?
Our emotions affect us more than we realize, motivation, learning, making decisions and connections and so much more. When e encounter challenging times, emotions feel more like a burden than a blessing at the same time it can be a very powerful thing.