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Cut the number of choices you make each day.
By Albert Stumm
sor at Swarthmore College and author of “The Paradox The more choices you have, of Choice.” “There have been hundreds the better, right? Actually, of studies showing that there behavioral scientists say can be too much of a good too many options can make thing,” Schwartz said. people anxious, indecisive To minimize the menand less happy with what they pick. Barry Schwartz is a psy- tal noise, he said, limit the number of choices you make, chology professor at Swarthand your brain will thank you more College and the author for it. of “The Paradox of Choice.” He says people become parMore is often alyzed by too many choices. For example, people in states more confusing with more Medicare Part D Schwartz offered several drug plan options are less examples of cases where more likely to choose any. People options left people worse off. In the case of Medicare Part who won’t settle for anything but the best particularly D prescription drug plans, suffer from this phenomenon, people in states with more whether they’re shopping for choices were less likely to a toaster or searching for a re- choose any of them, he said. lationship. Schwartz suggests The same goes for 401(k) investments. The more opthat before making a choice tions a company had, the less among many options, set likely employees were to sign realistic goals of what would be good enough. Stick with it, up, even when the employer offered matching money. then move on. Less consequential choices Jeans that fit perfectly. The ideal Netflix show for a are no different. Schwartz Tuesday night. Your one and pointed to one often-cited study that showed only soulmate. Modern life promises that with enough shoppers at a gouroptions, you will happily find met grocery store the best of everything. bought more jars of artisanal jam But behavioral scientists when they were say the increasing flood of presented with six choices — whether it comes to shopping, social lives or flavors rather than with a wider array relationships — is doing the of 24. In a follow-up opposite. The idea that more choice is study, students were more likely to better is baked into Western complete an exculture, but research shows that having more options tra-credit assignment can make people anxious, when they were given indecisive and, paradoxically, six topics to choose from instead of 30. less happy with what they pick, said Barry Schwartz, an Schwartz’s research expandemeritus psychology profesed on those findings to learn The Associated Press
the emotional responses to this phenomenon. “Instead of being liberated by all this choice, you’re paralyzed,” he said. “You can do anything, and you can’t figure out which of those many things to do.” People also often end up making worse decisions since more options suggest more potentially bad outcomes, he said. And once someone finally decides from all the possibilities, they may be less satisfied with even a good choice because they fear there was a better alternative. Schwartz said the satisfaction problem is especially acute for people whose aim is to get the best, whom psychologists call maximizers. “People who are maximizers especially suffer from the
proliferation of options,” he said. “Only the best will do.” The tendency isn’t true for all people in all situations, Schwartz noted. Car buffs will gladly dive into the details of nearly unlimited choice when buying a new one. “But you don’t feel that way when it comes to buying jam,” he said.
Thebraindoesn’tlike making decisions
Daniel Willingham, a psychology professor and neuroscience researcher at the University of Virginia, said the phenomenon occurs because the brain is designed to save people from having to think. Problem-solving requires more energy than relying on memory, a fact that has roots in
He was following the example of Herbert Simon, a psychologist and 1978 Nobel laureate in economics, who had three sets of clothes and ate nearly the same thing every day. Simon introduced the term “satisficing,” a combination of satisfying and sufficing that means setting good-enough criteria for decisions and moving on. Epstein sets satisficing rules for himself when shopping online by first focusing on the purpose of the purchase. “When I find one that does that, I’m buying it, instead of reading all the reviews and getting sucked into, ‘Well, this one has all these other features.’” Willingham and Schwartz suggested farming out some decisions. If you’re looking for a new phone, find a friend who is happy with theirs and buy that one. For larger decisions like financial planning, you’ll be happier if you rely on someone else’s professional expertise, Willingham said. “If you’re thinking, ‘Well, I’m a clever guy, I can figure that out,’ I think 9 times out 10, you’re fooling yourself,” Limityourchoices of he said. and move on Schwartz acknowledged David Epstein said that that for people who have trouble making decisions, after researching his book, “Inside the Box: changing is difficult. But it’s How Constraints Make Us worth it. “What happens over time Better,” he began to shift is you find it easier to make away from his maximalist tendencies. Now, he limits decisions, you end up more satisfied with the decisions his opportunities for making you make, and all of a sudden, choices, such as when he you’ve got an extra two hours bought 10 of the same wellfitting T-shirts in different in every day,” he said. colors.
evoltionary survival mode, Willingham said. When faced with a goal, whether it be an immediate need like responding to a threat or something longer term like finding shelter, the mind first searches for what’s worked before. The problem-solving part of the brain only kicks in afterward. “Another way to put it is that if you’re thinking, things are not going well,” he said. That explains why sometimes people move through parts of their day on autopilot, he said. Throughout the day, people are confronted with hundreds of situations where they could do something different, but they almost always take the same route to work. Schwartz said the proliferation of choices also has become tangled with identity in the social media age, where everyone can easily compare their choices to others. “When all you’ve got to choose from is Lee’s and Levi’s, nobody expects the jeans they buy to fit perfectly,” he said. “When there are 2,000 options, well, now, dammit, you do expect your jeans to fit perfectly.”