The Paradox of Choice

Modern life offers more options than any generation has had, in supermarket aisles, careers, health care and relationships. Psychologist Barry Schwartz argues that this abundance has stopped serving people. Past a certain point, extra options bring anxiety, regret and paralysis rather than freedom and satisfaction.

Schwartz draws on psychological research to sort decision-makers into two types. Maximizers need to find the best possible option. Satisficers settle for one that is good enough. He shows why maximizers tend to be unhappier with their results, even when those results are objectively better.

He also traces how opportunity costs, raised expectations and self-blame leave the store with us and shape the biggest decisions of our lives. Each of these pressures grows as the number of alternatives grows.

This is non-fiction in the popular psychology and behavioural economics tradition, with research summary alongside practical advice for self-help readers. The suggestions are concrete: choose when to choose, accept good enough, and limit the number of options under consideration. It first appeared from Ecco in 2004 and was revised in 2016.

The book turns on one problem: how much choice is too much, and what a person can do to choose with less strain.