The effect of cognitive biases and emotions on planning processes: a case study

Abstract

The planning discourse rarely focuses on emotions experienced by people who are expected to remain neutral, such as planners, public servants, and project managers, or on the cognitive biases that may affect both the emotions and the decision-making throughout the whole planning process. This paper discusses how rational considerations, as well as emotional assumptions and irrational cognitive biases among key actors, shaped one particular planning process, especially during a crisis. Attention is paid in particular to the effect of emotions and cognitive biases on information processing, decision-making, and judgment, as well as the rationalization of emotions. The case study shows that cognitive biases and emotions played a significant role in shaping events and, moreover, influenced respondents’ long-term interpretations of them.