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Go with your gut -- intuition is more than just a hunch
Published: 13:06 EST, March 05, 2008

Most of us experience 'gut feelings' we can't explain, such as
instantly loving - or hating - a new property when we're househunting
or the snap judgements we make on meeting new people. Now researchers
at Leeds say these feelings - or intuitions - are real and we should
take our hunches seriously.

According to a team led by Professor Gerard Hodgkinson of the Centre
for Organisational Strategy, Learning and Change at Leeds University
Business School, intuition is the result of the way our brains store,
process and retrieve information on a subconscious level and so is a
real psychological phenomenon which needs further study to help us
harness its potential.

There are many recorded incidences where intuition prevented
catastrophes and cases of remarkable recoveries when doctors followed
their gut feelings. Yet science has historically ridiculed the concept
of intuition, putting it in the same box as parapsychology, phrenology
and other 'pseudoscientific' practices.

Through analysis of a wide range of research papers examining the
phenomenon, the researchers conclude that intuition is the brain
drawing on past experiences and external cues to make a decision - but
one that happens so fast the reaction is at a non-conscious level. All
we're aware of is a general feeling that something is right or wrong.

"People usually experience true intuition when they are under severe
time pressure or in a situation of information overload or acute
danger, where conscious analysis of the situation may be difficult or
impossible," says Prof Hodgkinson.

He cites the recorded case of a Formula One driver who braked sharply
when nearing a hairpin bend without knowing why - and as a result
avoided hitting a pile-up of cars on the track ahead, undoubtedly
saving his life.

"The driver couldn't explain why he felt he should stop, but the urge
was much stronger than his desire to win the race," explains Professor
Hodgkinson. "The driver underwent forensic analysis by psychologists
afterwards, where he was shown a video to mentally relive the event.
In hindsight he realised that the crowd, which would have normally
been cheering him on, wasn't looking at him coming up to the bend but
was looking the other way in a static, frozen way. That was the cue.
He didn't consciously process this, but he knew something was wrong
and stopped in time."

Prof Hodgkinson believes that all intuitive experiences are based on
the instantaneous evaluation of such internal and external cues - but
does not speculate on whether intuitive decisions are necessarily the
right ones.

"Humans clearly need both conscious and non-conscious thought
processes, but it's likely that neither is intrinsically 'better' than
the other," he says.

As a Chartered occupational psychologist, Prof Hodgkinson is
particularly interested in the impact of intuition within business,
where many executives and managers claim to use intuition over
deliberate analysis when a swift decision is required. "We'd like to
identify when business people choose to switch from one mode to the
other and why - and also analyse when their decision is the correct
one. By understanding this phenomenon, we could then help
organisations to harness and hone intuitive skills in their executives
and managers."

The research is published in the current issue of the British Journal
of Psychology.

Source: University of Leeds

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