Decision Making: Psychology, Biases & Emotional Intelligence

Decision-making is not simply a matter of collecting information and comparing options. Human judgement is also shaped by emotions, mental shortcuts, prior experiences, social pressures and the way a problem is presented.

Understanding these influences can help you recognise potential errors in judgement, evaluate situations more carefully and make better-informed decisions in professional and organisational settings.

This course explores the psychological and behavioural factors that influence how people make decisions, individually and collectively. It combines concepts from cognitive psychology, emotional intelligence and behavioral economics to examine why decisions sometimes go wrong and what can be done to improve the process.

What will you learn?

Throughout the course, you will explore:

• Cognitive biases and heuristics: Understand how mental shortcuts influence judgement and can lead to systematic errors.

• Emotional intelligence: Examine the relationship between emotions, self-awareness and decision-making.

• Stress and decision fatigue: Understand how pressure, repeated choices and limited mental resources affect decision quality.

• Group decision-making: Explore the influence of group dynamics, shared assumptions and psychological safety on team decisions.

• Behavioural economics and nudging: Learn how the design of choices and decision environments can influence behaviour.

• Motivation and behavioural drivers: Examine the factors that influence human actions and choices.

• Risk, framing and uncertainty: Understand why people interpret risks differently and how the presentation of information affects judgement.

• Ethical and organisational applications: Consider how psychological and behavioural insights can be applied in workplace contexts.

Why study decision-making psychology?

Many professional decisions involve incomplete information, competing priorities and pressure to act. In these situations, understanding the psychological influences on judgement can be as important as understanding the available data.

Recognising these influences does not eliminate bias or guarantee the right outcome. It provides a foundation for questioning assumptions, considering alternative interpretations and approaching decisions more deliberately.

Who is this course for?

This course is suitable for managers, team leaders, business and project professionals, and anyone interested in human behaviour and decision-making. It does not require previous study in psychology or behavioural economics.

Whether you make decisions independently or as part of a team, the course offers concepts and perspectives you can use to examine how decisions are formed, influenced and evaluated.

The focus is practical understanding: connecting psychological concepts to the decisions people make in everyday professional life.

Course Author

Alex Amoroso, PhD

Senior UX Researcher | Research, Product & Learning Design

Alex Amoroso is a researcher, educator, and course designer with more than 10 years of professional experience in UX and product research, behavioural research, and complex problem-solving, alongside extensive experience in professional and academic education.

Her work focuses on a simple question: what is actually going on, what evidence do we have, and what should we do with it?

Across research, product, and organisational environments, she has worked on complex problems involving user behaviour, digital products, analytics, customer experience, decision-making, and innovation. Her research has included studies with thousands of users across B2B and B2C environments, combining qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate problems, challenge assumptions, interpret evidence, and support better decisions.

Alongside her professional research work, Alex teaches doctoral-level research design and methodologies, supervises and assesses research projects, and has developed approximately 30 online courses across research, UX, product, data, analytics, customer experience, business, and decision-making. Selected courses are also available through Udemy Business.

Her approach to teaching is practical and structured: clarify the subject, organise the thinking, distinguish evidence from assumption, and turn complex information into knowledge that can be applied.

She holds a PhD in Health Anthropology, with research focused on human behaviour, environmental stress, and quantitative data analysis, and has published research in peer-reviewed journals.

Across her courses, she combines:

• Research-based thinking

• Practical frameworks and methods

• Real-world examples and applications

• Clear explanations of complex subjects

• Exercises, tools, and techniques that support practical learning

Her goal is simple: to help learners understand complex subjects, think more clearly, and apply what they learn in real professional situations.

Welcome to MTF
The MTF Institute of Management, Technology & Finance is an international institute of practical education headquartered in Lisbon, Portugal. Guided by the motto 'SCIENTIA ET PRACTICA' ('Knowledge and Practice'), the institute focuses on applied skills at the intersection of business, IT, finance, artificial intelligence, and digital transformation. Today, MTF brings together over 1.04 million learners across 220 countries and territories, serves as an official partner of IBM, Intel, and Microsoft, and is a member of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Union of Trade and Services Associations of Lisbon.

The MTF Institute School of Professional & Continuing Education profile represents a specialized course track and has distinct differences from the primary account and official learning platform of the institute. Education within this track is offered in the format of specific learning editions, where completed programs are recognized exclusively through the Udemy platform certificate. This format does not provide original certificates or official documents from MTF Institute itself, nor does it include student ID cards, academic credit, or enrollment in official MTF credential programs. However, despite the academic limitations of this format, all offered courses maintain a strong practical focus and high relevance, equipping learners with up-to-date knowledge and practical tools to address real-world professional challenges.