The Paradox of Choice: Why Having Too Many Options Can Be a Bad Thing

Why can’t we pick something already?

Decisions, decisions… The psychology of decision-making reveals just how strange and irrational we can be. Our decision-making process can be downright absurd, from the paradox of choice to tyranny, biases, and emotional factors. Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Decisions, decisions, decisions. They are everywhere, from what to eat for breakfast to where to go on vacation. But have you ever stopped to think about how you make decisions? The psychology of decision-making is a fascinating topic that reveals how strange and irrational we can be.

One of the most absurd examples of this is the paradox of choice. It’s the idea that too many options can be detrimental to our decision-making process.

Studies have shown that when presented with too many choices, people become overwhelmed and find it harder to decide. It’s like going to a restaurant with a menu that’s 50 pages long. Do you really want to spend your entire evening reading it?

But on the other hand, we also get anxious when there are too few options. This is known as the tyranny of choice. We want options, but not too many. It’s like going to a restaurant with only one item on the menu. Sure, it might be the best dish in the world, but don’t you want a little variety in your life?

Then there are the biases that influence our decision-making. We all have them, whether we realize it or not.