Choking on Choice?
In America, people are faced with more and more decisions every day, whether its picking one of 31 ice cream flavors or deciding whether and when to get married. That sounds like a great thing. But as research from a Swarthmore College psychology professor has shown, too many choices can make us confused, unhappy―even paralyzed with indecision.
Thats particularly true when it comes to the workplace, says Barry Schwartz, an author of six books about human behavior. Students are graduating with a multitude of skills and interests, but often find themselves overwhelmed when it comes to choosing an ultimate career goal.
In a study, Schwartz observed decision-making among college students during their senior year. Based on answers to questions regarding their job-hunting strategies and career decisions, he divided the students into two groups: maximizers who consider every possible option, and satisficers who look until they find an option that is good enough.
You might expect that the students whod undertaken the most exhaustive search would be the most satisfied with their final decision. But it turns out thats not true. Schwartz found that while maximizers ended up with better paying jobs than satisficers on average, they werent as happy with their decision.
Why do these people feel less satisfied? Maybe because a world of possibilities is also a world of missed opportunities. When you look at every possible option you tend to fixate more on what was given up than what was gained. After surveying every option, a person is more acutely aware of the opportunity cost of their decision, or all the opportunities they had to turn down to pursue just one career.
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