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The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less | 
 enlarge | Author: Barry Schwartz
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Category: Book
List Price: $13.99
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Rating:  104 reviews
Sales Rank: 2429
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.3 x 0.9
ISBN: 0060005696
Dewey Decimal Number: 302
EAN: 9780060005696
ASIN: 0060005696
Publication Date: January 1, 2005
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Product Description
In the spirit of Alvin Toffler's Future Shock, a social critique of our obsession with choice, and how it contributes to anxiety, dissatisfaction and regret. This paperback includes a new P.S. section with author interviews, insights, features, suggested readings, and more. Whether we're buying a pair of jeans, ordering a cup of coffee, selecting a long-distance carrier, applying to college, choosing a doctor, or setting up a 401(k), everyday decisions--both big and small--have become increasingly complex due to the overwhelming abundance of choice with which we are presented.
We assume that more choice means better options and greater satisfaction. But beware of excessive choice: choice overload can make you question the decisions you make before you even make them, it can set you up for unrealistically high expectations, and it can make you blame yourself for any and all failures. In the long run, this can lead to decision-making paralysis, anxiety, and perpetual stress. And, in a culture that tells us that there is no excuse for falling short of perfection when your options are limitless, too much choice can lead to clinical depression.
In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz explains at what point choice--the hallmark of individual freedom and self-determination that we so cherish--becomes detrimental to our psychological and emotional well-being. In accessible, engaging, and anecdotal prose, Schwartz shows how the dramatic explosion in choice--from the mundane to the profound challenges of balancing career, family, and individual needs--has paradoxically become a problem instead of a solution. Schwartz also shows how our obsession with choice encourages us to seek that which makes us feel worse.
By synthesizing current research in the social sciences, Schwartz makes the counterintuitive case that eliminating choices can greatly reduce the stress, anxiety, and busyness of our lives. He offers eleven practical steps on how to limit choices to a manageable number, have the discipline to focus on the important ones and ignore the rest, and ultimately derive greater satisfaction from the choices you have to make.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 99 more reviews...
 An interesting read, but... January 6, 2009
...but I came away thinking the author did not prove his subtitle. He did prove "Why More is Less" but I don't think he showed "How the Culture of Abundance Robs Us of Satisfaction". I believe a more accurate (although less appealing) subtitle may have been "How the Culture of Abundance Allows Unrepentant Maximizers to Drive Themselves Crazy".
Full disclosure - I am a Satisficer. I scored very low on his test on page 80. Consequently I don't see how fewer choices in the culture at large would make me more satisfied. I have already found a way to filter out most of the unnecessary (for me) choices in life and an quite content to stick with the same brand of jeans, shirts, and crackers. But at the same time, I would not want to be denied the opportunity to possibly change my mind in the future - and I would not want others who may make different choices than I to be denied either.
That being said - I fully understand certain people may become unhappy with the abundance of choices in our culture. But isn't that a reflection of the individual's reaction to the culture - and not the fault of the culture itself? Are Maximizers victims of the culture as the subtitle implies? Or are they simply people who haven't adequately learned to cope with abundance? If one were to argue that our culture is also a culture of alcohol (you may or may not agree - but I'll play the devil's advocate for now) - does that mean that the culture is responsible for alcoholism within individuals? Does a culture of alcohol "rob" us of our sobriety? I think not. In both cases - it is the individual reaction to the culture (either through choice or predisposition) - not the culture itself - which causes the underlying problem.
Fortunately - the author does not spend too much time prescribing involuntary changes to the culture at large. Instead - he focuses on what individuals can do themselves to deal with the myriad of choices available to them - and how they can create a mindset to lead to higher satisfaction. So my review is mainly critical of the subtitle. In the end the book is worth a read - especially if you are a Maximizer who finds themselves overwhelmed.
PS. One thing I cannot leave out - on page 53 the author states that the average American sees 3000 advertisements per day. I'd really like to know where this statistic came from. It seems so dubious to me that I nearly put the book down at that point.
 Too much freedom of choice is bad for us January 2, 2009
Summary:
While having some freedom of choice is important to our well-being, having hundreds of options to choose from in every aspect of our lives, as we do in the modern world, is bad for us. With too many choices, we feel become anxious about finding the very best one, are burdened with a greater sense of responsibility for the consequences, spend large amounts of time and effort on making decisions, and regret lost opportunities after making our choice. In addition, we experience accommodation that means things we thought would make us much happier really don't, in the long run, as we get used to a new standard of expectations. Striving to make the best decision every time in the face of an onslaught of more options than we can effectively evaluate encourages learned helplessness and depression.
The author recommends making some rules of thumb to limit the effort you put into decisionmaking, such as cutting most decisions down to two options, and considering most decisions nonreversible. He also recommends resolving to find an option that meets your standard of acceptability and then stop, rather than spending large quantities of time and energy ferreting out the absolute best option (which, given the enormous range of possibilities for most choices in the modern world, isn't even possible much of the time).
Quotes lots of studies, including a fair amount from Martin Seligman's work on learned helplessness. If you've read Seligman and other writers on the psychology of happiness, you may find much of this book repetitive, but there should still be some gems you haven't seen before.
More IS Less, it appears December 24, 2008
After reading this book, it really does bring home the point that having more stuff to choose from does not necessarily make for a better life. Sometimes it is just one big hassle to have to choose among a bunch of choices, most of which are just variations of other choices.
With the current economic downturn, maybe it is time to reaccess this over the top situation. People will find that there really is a whole lot more important than 35 kinds of laundry detergent on the shelf at the local grocer. Especially when it will come down to IF there is enough money to pay the bills, buy food, etc, and not merely what brand of food to buy.
The adjustment of attitude will be a good thing in the long run, as most Americans are a spoiled, pampered lot, and tend to get bent out of shape over inconsequential matters.
 Amazingly insightful December 18, 2008
For some days after reading it, I was quoting bits of it to people - it was really eye opening about many of the whys of all sorts of things that we do. Everything we do all the time involves decisions between choices(get out of bed or sleep in...) and being aware of some of the things that effect those decisions can only be helpful. And how many of the things we just take for granted or assume, it turns out that when they do studies to see if it is true, well, our assumptions are wrong.
And I have been overwhelmed when I try to buy band-aids and I really believe one of the main points, our lives are not improved by 15 or 20 types of bandaids. I like having more than the one or two you got when I was a kid, but 5 choices would be enough...
Excellent and easy to read October 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
All the information in this book rings true and a great read for those who want to simply and know that the perfect choice is not always the one that makes us the happiest if you spend all your time dwelling on finding it. If you spend a lot of time making decisions you may want to consider picking up this book. You won't be disappointed. Nice read.
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