The gut chooses faster than the mind: a latency advantage of affective over cognitive decisions.

Dual-process theories often cite that affective processing occurs more rapidly than cognitive processing. A wide range of evidence seems to support this notion; however, little research exists in the context of decision making. We tested the hypothesis that affective decisions would be performed faster than cognitive decisions. Forty-nine students completed a series of forced-choice tasks involving well-known consumer brands, focusing on either emotionally or cognitively relevant aspects of the products. The results revealed a significant latency advantage for affective processing compared to cognitive processing.