Book Review: The Paradox of Choice

We live in an era of virtually limitless choice. Individual freedom in the Western world has never been greater. Yet dissatisfaction with our daily lives is high, stress and its physical complaints are on the rise, and clinical depression—particularly among young adults—is at historic levels. The gap between personal opportunity (and achievement) and personal satisfaction is growing. We're doing better but feeling worse about it.

Barry Schwartz, a professor of social theory, has identified this paradox as “the tyranny of choice.” "As the number of choices we face increases, freedom of choice eventually becomes a tyranny of choice (Schwartz, 234).”

Relying on the research of other social scientists, Schwartz divides the world into two groups: “maximizers” and “satisficers.” “Maximizers” look to achieve the best possible outcomes from their choices. “Satisficers” settle for something that is “good enough.” But it’s not that satisficers don’t have criteria and standards: rather, once a search yields a choice that satisfies those criteria and standards, the satisficer is content with his/her choice. “The difference between the two types is that the satisficer is content with the merely excellent as opposed to the absolute best (Schwartz, 780.)” And maximizers, almost without exception, suffer terribly for their pursuit of perfection.

Social comparisons—unavoidable in the era of social media—convince us we are losing ground in the rat race. “A person living in a blue-collar neighborhood forty years ago might have been content with his lower-middle-class income because that brought him a life comparable to what he saw around him…But not anymore. Now this person gets to see how the wealthy live countless times every day (Schwartz, 190).” The democratization of information in the digital age has carried over into our aspirations: anyone’s life could be ours. Adaptation and spent emotional and time resources guarantee that, over time, we will be less satisfied with the choices we have made, or stop making choices altogether—indecisiveness.

To counter this endless angst, Schwartz offers strategies that enable the individual to narrow the field of available choices and increase their contentment with the choices they’ve made. He suggests that we make more personal rules (e.g., "always wear a seatbelt";"never drink more than two glasses of wine in the evening"; “never shop in more than three stores for an article of clothing”). Rules allow us to avoid endless, deliberate decision making. To limit harmful positional comparisons, Schwartz suggests finding your own, narrow social and professional circle and staying in it—“staying in your own pond.” “Instead of comparing ourselves with everyone, we try to mark off the world in such a way that in our pond, in comparison with our reference group, we are successful. Better to be the third highest paid lawyer in a small firm and make $120,000 a year than to be in the middle of the pack in a large firm and make $150,000 (Schwartz, 190).”

Make room for adaptation. Understand that, over time, your new luxury car will return less and less joy on the time and work you’ve invested in earning and researching it. When you’ve found “the best” (wine, cigars, restaurants, etc.), enjoy the best on only rare occasions—even if you can afford to enjoy the best regularly. “What’s the point of great wines [or cigars, meals, etc.]  if they don’t make you feel great (Schwartz, 187)?”

And finally—and maybe most helpfully—cultivate gratitude in your life. Studies indicate that gratitude doesn’t come naturally to most of us. As an exercise, keep a notepad at your bedside: every night, write down five things that you were grateful for that day. They can be small victories (finishing a difficult article in a magazine) or large victories (a promotion at work), but the habit of thinking about and recording them will make gratitude more natural, and your satisfaction with the life you live—rather than the life you want, or the life you’re told you should want—greater.

 "Good enough" is ultimately better than you’d ever suspect.