Choice
Choice is the range of different things from which a being can choose.
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Excessively numerous options may cause confusion, reduced satisfaction, and regret.[1] The set of possible alternatives from which an agent may select constitutes a choice.[2] While people typically value having freedom to choose, having too few or artificially constrained options can create unease during the selection process.[1]
Quick Facts
- Field
- Decision theory
- psychology
- economics
- Known for
- Analysis of choice types
- evaluability
- and the paradox of choice
Facts from the source article.
Key facts and history
Decisions can be classified as rational, intuitive, recognition-based, or combination.[3] Individuals explicitly requested to choose from six as opposed to 24 sodas in one experiment.[4] As increasing options are available, three problems emerge: gaining adequate information, escalation of expectation, and self-blame for disappointing results.[5] Air-traffic safety was transformed by collaborative decision making, which ended the practice of always deferring to the captain when a junior crew member noticed an issue.[6]
Outcomes from choices can be either reversible or irreversible, and selecting irreversible options may help lessen the problem of having too many choices.[7] When options are evaluated together versus separately, evaluability can lead people to reverse their preferences.[8] Whether a larger or smaller number of available options increases the likelihood of a purchase remains uncertain.[9] Research by White and Hoffrage in 2009 found that the appeal of having more choices had a greater impact than the negative effect of having too many.[10]
A meta-analysis conducted by Scheibehenne in 2010 raised doubts about earlier studies on choice overload.[11] People who can change their decisions afterward tend to feel less satisfied with the outcome they chose.[12] Maximizers tend to experience lower life happiness, possibly because they are preoccupied with finding the absolute best option.[13]
What the cited sources add
Rosenfeld notes that advertisers may goad consumers with slogans like “The choice is clear”.[14] Rosenfeld states that when making choices, people tend to ignore facts that do not jibe with the desired outcome.[14] Rosenfeld observes that airport bookstores are well stocked with decision-making guides.[14] Rosenfeld asks whether the real problem is the imperative of making all those choices in the first place.[14]
References
- Wikipedia, "Choice" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Barry Schwartz: The Paradox of Choice (2004); Myers, David G., "Social psychology", 2010; Iyengar, "When choice is demotivating: Can one desire too much of a good thing?", Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, December 2000, p. 995–1006 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Choice" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "CHOICE meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary", dictionary.cambridge.org (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Choice" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Types of decision making - an overview", decision-making-confidence.com (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Choice" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Norwood, Lusk, Arunachalam, and Henneberry. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Choice" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Schwartz, B. (2000). Self-determination: The tyranny of freedom. American Psychologist, 55(1), 79-88. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Choice" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "CDM CDM - Collaborative Decision Making", cdm.fly.faa.gov (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Choice" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bernstein, "Engaging Agnes Heller: A Critical Companion", Lexington Books, 16 March 2009, p. 89 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Choice" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hsee, C.K., Loewenstein, G.F., Blount, S., Bazerman, M.H. (1999). Preference reversals between joint and separate evaluations of option: A review and theoretica (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Choice" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Iyengar and Lepper.; Norwood, Lusk, Arunachalam, and Henneberry. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Choice" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: White, C. M., & Hoffrage, U. (2009). Testing the tyranny of too much choice against the allure of more choice. Psychology & Marketing, 26(3), 280-98. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Choice" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Scheibehenne, "Can There Ever Be Too Many Options? A Meta-Analytic Review of Choice Overload", Journal of Consumer Research, 2010, p. 409–425 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Choice" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gilbert, Daniel T., Ebert, Jane E. J. (2002). Decisions and revisions: The affective forecasting of changeable outcomes. Journal of Personality and Social Psych (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Choice" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Schwartz, Barry (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Rosenfeld, "Free to Choose?: How Americans have become tyrannized by the culture's overinvestment in choice", The Nation, 2014-06-03. facts only, no text reused. thenation.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Choice (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Choice (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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