The Paradox of Choice

I recently picked up Barry Schwartz’s fascinating book, The Paradox of Choice and basically read it in three days. I had read an excerpt somewhere (Slate? The New York Times Magazine?), where he was explaining how in countries (like Japan and America for example) where there were significant increases in income, the level of happiness had not risen accordingly. He surmised from this that when you have basic levels of prosperity you don’t necessarily increase your happiness and other factors like strong familial connections were more representative of happiness across culture. He builds up the evidence of having too many choices often perplexes people and make them less happy, and often less likely to buy things. He identifies several reason why the free market economy and personal freedom sometimes have the opposite effect from which conventional wisdom would suggest-too many choices can be overwhelming for some people. He analyzes concepts like Opportunity costs, where people evaluate missed opportunities that would have come from a different choice. This happens to me a lot when I am ordering at a restaurant. He also looks at how people tend to be “maximizers” (looking for the best) or “satisficers” (people who will accept “good enough”). Sometimes people are both depending on what they are choosing. Which I agree with, I feel that I am largely a “satisficers”, but can have moments of choosing like a “maximizer.” Some of the other factors that lead to suffering from decisions include regret, disappointment through adaptation, and comparison. He gives a list of 11 things that can help make choices more satisfactory: (1. Choose When to Choose 2. Be a Chooser, Not a Picker 3. Satisfice More and Maximize Less 4. Think About the Opportunity Costs of Opportunity Costs 5. Make Your Decisions Nonreversible 6. Practice an “Attitude of Gratitude” 7. Regret Less 8. Anticipate Adaptation 9. Control Expectations 10. Curtail Social Comparison 11. Learn to Love Constraints). It was a thought provoking and inspiring book.

Comments

[phatrick]

I hate choice. Maybe I should read this book.

[MC]

Actually I was thinking about how some of the examples he used reminded me of you, Phatrick, should definitely read this book.

[Edward]

Mmmm, sounds like one for me too. I'm definitely a maximiser, (or just a miser?), and should follow the example of my satisficing wife more often. (I wonder did she satisfice when choosing me?!) I reckon about 3 choices is optimal for me, but if you try buying a mobile phone and contract these days then you have choices in the hundreds. Sometimes the modern world just gets me down.

[MC]

Actually Schwartz uses the example of having to choose a long distance provider as an example of where he was a maximizer-looking for the best deal possible and was frustrated by it. I get overwhelmed when I want to buy electronics and usually buy one of the most popular models advertised in the shops here, since I don't have　the　time　or energy to comparison shop. It's not worth it to me. But I'm with you, there's too much to know and be concerned with in the modern world, so I rebel and try to ignore it when I can.