The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less

In his new book The Paradox of Choice - Why More Is Less, Barry Choices. We're surrounded by them. Whether we're trying to pick out a new pair of jeans, shopping for car insurance, getting groceries, selecting a long-distance phone carrier, ordering a cup of coffee, or even deciding which spiritual path to follow, we're faced with a staggering amount of options. Just this weekend, my husband and I were shopping for a new dryer to replace the one that gave up the ghost. The amount of dryers was dizzying; they even had digital dryers! Like I jokingly told the salesman, when I do laundry, I don't want to have to do mathematical equations to figure out what numbers to key in...I just want to dry my freakin' clothes!The author contends that it's crucial for us to feel like we're in control, but in the face of so many options, is the process of selection back-firing on us?Schwartz contends that it is. In accessible, engaging, and anecdotal prose, the author shows how the dramatic explosion of choice--from the mundane to the profound--has paradoxically become a problem instead of a solution. He tells the story of how he used to be able to go into a store and just get a pair of jeans. Being one to wear his jeans until they fall apart, he finally went to the store to get a new pair. A salesperson walked up to him and asked him if she could help. "I want a pair of jeans--32-38", he said. She proceeds to ask him if he wants them slim fit, easy fit, relaxed fit, baggy, or extra baggy? Stonewashed, acid-washed, or distressed? Buttton-fly or zipper fly? Faded or regular?He was stunned. He sputtered that he just wanted regular jeans...you know, the kind that used to be the only kind? Schwartz then begins a mission to find out the range of choice for Americans. He goes on to list some pretty eye-opening statistics. For example, in his local supermarket, he found 285 varieties of cookies. Just the chocolate-chip cookies alone had 21 options! At his local electronics store, he counted 85 different telephones, not including cell phones. Even shopping for colleges has become an intellectual shopping mall.And speaking of malls, did you know that Americans go to shopping centers about once a week, more often than they go to houses of worship? American now has more shopping centers than high schools. However, when asked to rank the pleasure they get from various activities, grocery shopping ranks next to last, and other shopping fifth from the bottom.People are shopping more, but enjoying it less. But why? If they do enjoy it less, why do they keep doing it? This is the crux of the book, where Schwartz cites fascinating studies including Why Choice Is Demotivating. He also examines why it is that the excitement of purchasing new items seems to wear off so fast, and why we sometimes actually feel badly about our choices. For one, humans are adaptive. "Familiarity breeds contempt", as the old adage goes. But it's also the fact that we second guess ourselves after a purchase, mulling what we could have chosen, as well as asking ourselves if we really chose "the best".Choosing "the best" is a trait of maximizers. Schwartz says that maximizers tend to be less happy than satisficers. Satisficers are those who choose with the mindset of "good enough". But because America is a culture where many seek "the best" and compare their choices and lifestyle with their neighbors and media standards, most of us are maximizers.What are some of the qualities of a maximizer?1. Maximizers engage in more product comparisons than satisficers, both before and after they make purchasing decisions.2. Maximizers take longer than satisficers to decide on a purchase.3. Maximizers spend more time than satisficers comparing their purchasing decisions to the decisions of others.4. Maximizers are more likely to experience regret after a purchase.5. Maximizers are more likely to spend time thinking about hypothetical alternatives to the purchases they've made.6. Maximizers generally feel less positive about their purchasing decisions.7. Maximizers savor positive events less than satisficers and do not cope as well (by their own admission) with negative events.8. After something bad happens to them, maximizers' sense of well-being takes longer to recover.9. Maximizers tend to brood or ruminate more than satisficers.Is it any wonder that we buy more, but enjoy less? What drew me to this book was because I knew that I was the type of person that obsessed over purchases, taking forever to select an item. I used to be so indecisive at a restaurant, taking 20 minutes to figure out what I wanted! What am I in the mood for? How will I feel when I eat it? What's the tastiest thing I could order? I'm much better than I was, but still... I also noticed the trend to second guess many of my purchasing decisions and wondering if I could "do better".So when I read about this book in Parade magazine, I ordered it from Amazon.com. The great thing about this book is that Schwartz synthesizes current research, and shows how eliminating choices can greatly reduce the stress, anxiety, and busyness of our lives. He even offers eleven practical steps on how to limit choices to a manageable number, have the discipline to focus on those that are important and ignore the rest, and ultimately derive greater satisfaction from the choices we have to make.Oh, and I picked my new dryer rather easily. I knew I wanted an interior light, a manual dial, large capacity, and a signal to let me know when the clothes were done. However, my husband kept standing there with a "deer in the headlights" look. (And finally agreed with my choice.)Do you think locking him in our bathroom with this book might help? Not a lotta choices in there, after all...

Having a choice in life is a good thing; a person without choices is often miserable. As the number of choices grows, our happiness grows with them, but then it begins to decline. Having too many choices creates stress. Schwartz describes his visit to a local supermarket: "...next to the crackers were 285 varieties of cookies. Among chocolate chip cookies there were 21 options. ... Across the isle were juices - 13 `sports drinks,' 65 `box drinks' for kids, 85 other flavors and brands of juices, and 75 iced teas and adult drinks. I could get these tea drinks sweetened (sugar or artificial sweetener), lemoned, and flavored. ... I found 61 varieties of suntan oil and sunblock, and 80 different pain relievers - aspirin, acetaminophen, ibuprofen; 350 milligrams or 500 milligrams; caplets, capsules, and tablets; coated or uncoated. There were 40 options for toothpaste, 150 lipsticks, 75 eyeliners, and 90 colors of nail polish from one brand alone."Those wide choices may seem appealing, but Schwartz brings our attention to what he calls `the darker side of freedom' - the stress of choice. This paradox is the most pronounced in the financial markets. Even though his book is about the paradox of choice in general, I read it with an eye towards the financial markets, my own trading, and what I see in other traders.Shall we trade stocks, futures, or options? If stocks, shall we trade the more seasoned issues on the NYSE or look for riskier high-growth candidates on the NASDAQ? Should we track agricultural, tropical, or financial futures? And what about the forex? Should we buy or write options, or look into more complex strategies, such as spreads? And worst of all - what if another market makes a spectacular move while our attention is focused elsewhere? No wonder the majority of traders feel so stressed. Schwartz says "Choosing almost always involves giving up something else of value. ... The overload of choice contributes to dissatisfaction.""Losses hurt more than gains satisfy. ... The cost of any option involves passing up the opportunities that a different option would have afforded. ... Conflict induces people to avoid decisions. ...Emotional unpleasantness makes for bad decisions. ... The desire to avoid regret leads to inaction inertia. ... An overload of choice contributes to dissatisfaction."Every trader who kicked himself after a profitable trade for having `left more money on the table' will chuckle at a cartoon of a kid in a t-shirt that says "Brown ... but my first choice was Yale." Schwartz shows how people are divided into `maximizers' who always strive for the best and `satisficers' those who settle for some reasonable level of success. "Almost everyone who scores high on maximization scale also scores high on regret." You can decide to be a maximizer in a very small number of situations that truly matter to you and be a more mellow satisficer in the rest of your life. "We would be better off seeking what was good enough instead of seeking the best."Connections with trading kept running through my mind while reading this book. How many successful people kick themselves, feeling that their performance was not good enough. How many stay way too long in a bad trade because of `sunk costs.' Schwartz exposes the endless flow of coulda-shoulda-woulda as `counterfactual thinking.' He shows how keeping records of decisions impacts people's attitudes towards those decisions. I have been saying over and again that keeping good records is the single most important step towards becoming a successful trader.The tone of Professor Schwartz's book is that of a friendly, intelligent neighbor, dealing with the same human dilemmas as you and I. He shares his thinking about our problems by talking with us, not at us. His compact and smoothly written book sheds light on many aspects of decision-making, the stress of `roads not taken,' the curse of high expectations, etc.The mere fact of outlining a problem is a big step towards clarity, but after 10 chapters, I felt ready to hear about his proposed solutions. They were delivered in Chapter 11 (which I hope had nothing to do with the eponymous chapter of the bankruptcy code :-)). Professor Schwartz's advice was lucid, logical, and sensible - but you will have to read it yourself (I do not describe it here because reciting solutions without having worked through the problems is likely not to be useful.)I highly recommend this book to all traders. My only quibble is the paper quality of the paperback - it is grayish, and should have been much whiter! But the publisher offers you no choice!www elder com

Overally nice book.good read.

Considero que es un buen tema que desarrolla y me gusta cómo viene redactado el libro. Es el primero que leo en inglés. Desafortunadamente me llegó en mal estado por la parte del lomo de arriba. No fue empaquetado de manera correcta.

In der klassischen Ökonomie erhöht jede weitere Option den Nutzen. Laut dem Autor mag dies objektiv schon richtig sein, auf das subjektive Empfinden wirken sich ab einem gewissen Sättigungspunkt weitere Optionen negativ aus. Die Optionenflut kann bei entsprechender Konstitution sogar zu schweren Depressionen führen. Betroffen sind davon sogenannte Maximiser. Leute die nach dem jeweils besten Produkt aus sind. Die Jagd nach dem besten Produkt führt mehr oder minder zwangsläufig zum Regret. Es werden zumindest in der Weltsicht des Maximisers immer bessere Produkte und Alternativen auftauchen.Wesentlich besser kommt in der Optionen-Sintflut der "Satisficer" zurecht. Ein Satisficer hat bestimmte Kriterien. Wenn diese erfüllt sind, ist er zufrieden. Egal ob es noch bessere Produkte gibt oder nicht.Ein weiterer Grundgedanke des Buches ist: Der allgemeine gesellschaftliche Reichtum hat sich in den Industrienationen in den letzten Jahrzehnten vervielfacht. Mein Vater hat z.B. bei meiner Geburt - inflationsbereinigt - 750 Euro verdient. Das ist für eine 4-köpfige Familie heute weit unter dem Existenzminimum bzw. der Österr. Sozialhilfe. Tatsächlich war er damals ein relativ gut bezahlter Industriearbeiter. In ähnlicher Position würde er heute mehr als 2000 Euro verdienen. Mit Sicherheit sind heutige Kinder aber nicht 3x so glücklich wie wir es damals waren. Es kommt offensichtlich zu einer Entkoppelung und teilweise sogar zu einer Umkehr von materiellen Reichtum und subjektiven Wohlbefinden. Schwartz erklärt dies mit der - im Laufe der historischen Entwicklung sehr nützlichen - Anpassungsfähigkeit des Menschen. Menschen können sich an unglaublich miserable Verhältnisse gewöhnen. Sie gewöhnen sich aber noch schneller an ein angenehmes Leben. Das dann gar nicht mehr so als angenehm empfunden wird. Vor allem geht der Reiz von neuen Konsumartikeln sehr schnell verloren. Es entsteht eine "Hedonistic Treadmill". Wir brauchen in immer kürzeren Abstand immer stärkere Konsumreize. Wobei auch das Anspruchsniveau an diese Reize selbst höher wird.Was kann man laut dem Autor dagegen tun? Man kann und sollte ein Satisficer werden. Wobei der Autor aber selbst betont, dass auch der geborene Satisficer auf mindestens einem Gebiet Maximizer ist. Man sollte ferner Metaregeln entwickeln, in welchen Gebieten sich eine längere Auswahl überhaupt auszahlt. Z.B. sollte man sich einmal einen bestimmten Telefonvertrag auswählen und ohne weiteres Überlegen dabei bleiben.Persönlich bin ich der Prototyp eines Satisficer. Ich lebe auch in einem kleinen Dorf. Ein Problem hat man bei unserem Dorfgreisler mit Sicherheit nicht: Ein Übermass an Auswahlmöglichkeiten. Im Sinne des Buches bin ich ein glücklicher Mensch in einer fast noch paradisisch unberührten Konsumlandschaft. Es stört nur eine Schwäche diese Idylle: Mein Hang für Bücher. Amazon ist für einen Menschen wie mich Paradies und Hölle zugleich. Wobei ich aber gar nicht sicher bin, ob ich mir dieses Laster auch abgewöhnen oder nicht doch lieber dem Motto von Edit Piaf folgen soll.Das Buch ist mehr als das übliche Ratschlagwerk. Es geht dem Autor auch um eine kritische Auseinandersetzung mit dem Neoliberalismus und dessen Markt-Fetischismus. Wobei der Autor die Grundthese dieser Theorie, der ungehemmte Markt verbessert objektiv das Güterangebot, als gegeben annimmt. Es ist nur zuviel des Guten.Es ist aber selbst die Annahme eines objektiv besseren Angebotes zu bezweifeln (Schwartz lässt sich darauf aber nicht ein, weil das nicht sein Metier ist). Als ich z.B. die Programmiersprache C lernte, brauchte man sich über das Lehrbuch nicht den Kopf zerbrechen. Es gab nur Kernigham&Ritchie: The C Programming Language. Das ist auch eines der besten jemals geschriebenen Programmierbücher. Heute gibt es zu jeden neuen Thema - z.B. iPhone Programmierung - eine Flut von Büchern. Die aber alle unter dem Druck möglichst als erster am Markt zu sein geschrieben sind. Wegen der grossen Konkurrenz und der Herrschaft der Betriebswichtel in den Verlagen fällt auch das Honorar des Autors gering aus. Profiautoren produzieren daher wie am Fliessband Bücher. Diese sind entsprechend schleissig gemacht bzw. es wird so viel wie möglich aus früheren Büchern wiederverwendet. Lektoren sind inzwischen ein weitgehend wegrationalisierter Berufszweig. Besonders schlimm sind aus denselben Gründen Übersetzungen. Statt einem guten Buch hat man die Auswahl aus zwanzigfachen Mist. Eine Entwicklung, die wohl nicht nur auf Computerbücher beschränkt ist.Ich habe mit meinem Hund Bello (ein Border-Collie Mischling) Tests durchgeführt, ob er ebenfalls unter dem "Paradox of Choice" leidet. Legt man in einiger Distanz ein halbes und ein ganzes Hundekeks hin und gibt ihm das entsprechende Kommando, dann steuert er zielbewusst zuerst das ganze Keks an und frisst danach erst das halbe. Wenn das halbe Keks näher liegt frisst er zuerst dieses. Legt man mehrere Kekse nebeneinander, dann frisst er einfach von rechts nach links. Egal wie gross die Kekse sind. Er zeigt dabei keine Spur von Entscheidungsqual. Seine Regeln sind auch zweckmässig. Legt man allerdings 2 Tennisbälle nebeneinander und fordert ihn mit dem Kommando "Bello bring" auf die Tennisbälle zu aportieren, bekommt er seine Probleme. Er nimmt zuerst einen Tennisball ins Maul, lässt ihn fallen, nimmt den anderen .... bis er sich schlussendlich dann doch für einen Ball entscheidet. Obwohl er ansonsten sehr lernfähig ist verbessert sich dieses Verhalten auch mit der Zeit nicht. Er kann sich auch im 10ten Versuch nicht auf Anhieb für einen Ball entscheiden. Keine Ahnung, ob das Studium dieses Buches ihm weiterhelfen würde.P.S.: Es gibt einen sehr vergnüglichen Vortrag des Autors unter demselben Titel am Internet. Genaugenommen gibt es zwei Vorträge. Einen längeren wo er mit Anzug auftritt, einen kürzeren in Ruderleiberl und kurzer Hose. Der Ruderleiberl-Auftritt ist wesentlich besser.

Mix of psychology and philosophy in a way that is easy to understand.Really related to North America lifestyle.Suggest it specifically to those who immigrate to Canada or USA. This a must be read...the sooner in your life the better results you will get.

Decision making. I started this book in order to learn more about the decisionmaking process, especially about decision making in mundane, or not veryimportant things. Difficult choices may take time to make, but there shouldbe a useful method to shorten the time of decision making about things withouta great deal of importance. I hope I will find advice or process method for bothhigh / and low gravity decision making.At page 50 this book has only made me feel stupid and a tool and a media-following sheep. At first it was eye opening and interesting, but even atpage 100 there were no answers or advice or anything, just the constant andvery veiled and professional-sounding finger pointing that no matter what wethink we are all slaves to advertisements and we are too stupid, weak, greedyto know better. Even when we know better we are too lazy or greedy on act on it.It is starting to piss me off a little, but I am hopeful that the second half of the bookwill have a little more practical advice on how to change it, and less of the blamingand making us feel stupid kinda thing.Finished. What a mean and unhelpful book! It is very good at explaining what theproblem is and WHY we are wrong to make choices, but it only makes people feellike mindless sheep tools who are too weak and lazy to be responsible.The worst part however is that the book offers no help or solution. In the finalfew pages there are some "helpful" tactics, such as "learn to want less" and"accept what you have" and "be grateful and write it in a journal" and othercondescending and cheap advice. Empty words.Altogether the book is interesting to learn more about human stupidityand an endless finger wagging for being lazy, greedy, lustful idiots.Not the help I was hoping for.