Decisions Making: The Anxiety and Rewards
Editors Note: This is a Guest Post By Dee Mason editor for sofasandsectionals.com
The Paradox Of Choice
In the Western world, we are surrounded by overwhelming levels of choice. From breakfast cereals to door knobs and leather chairsconsumers are constantly spoiled for choice. This dilemma has even reached the stage where it is now referred to as a paradox–the paradox of choice.
You may wonder why this is a problem. Here’s an example: Top Shop offers eight different types of jeans. On its website, it boasts: ‘from high-waist flares, indigo skinnies and printed jeans to everyday denim, ankle grazers and organic cotton crops, no girl should be without her perfect jeans!’
The problem with this, is that this poor girl could be overwhelmed, confused and end up exhausted in a changing room surrounded by eight different pairs of jeans and no idea what to do.
Too Much Choice
Barry Schwartz, a Professor of Social Theory and Social Action and author of ‘The Paradox of Choice’ says that choice is a good thing, up to a certain point. By overloading us with options, he argues that having too many options makes us less satisfied, and can be debilitating.
In ‘The Paradox of Choice’ he explains: “When people have no choice, life is almost unbearable. As the number of available choices increases, as it has in our consumer culture, the autonomy, control and liberation this variety brings are powerful and positive. But as the number of choices grows further, the negatives escalate until we become overloaded. At this point, choice no longer liberates, but debilitates.”
He states that obsessing about all of the choices we have, like choosing a leather sofa bed, can lead to “bad decisions, anxiety, stress and dissatisfaction–even clinical depression.
The Perils Of Conclusion
An article in the Telegraph explains the affect too much choice has on us when we eventually do make a decision.
“People can become paralyzed by too much variety and wracked with uncertainty and regret about whether they have made the right decision.Ultimately they can be less satisfied by the choices they have made.”
The article says that when you are given too much choice, you become obsessed about what your decision will say about you, and you worry that your decision is wrong.
Reward Your Decision
In the modern world, making a decision and sticking to it can seem like an achievement and it is important to acknowledge this.
‘Beginner’s Guide’ says that “if you have trouble making decisions, reward yourself for any made decisions,right or wrong. Eventually the benefits of making better decisions will be their own reward.”
Due to the fact that we’re faced with more choices on a daily basis than particles of skin shed, it’s important we recognise that making a decision is sometimes difficult.
One article says that making big decisions requires us to step outside our comfort zone. It explains that for big decisions that are life-improving—think about New Year’s resolutions–there is the chance of a relapse. If you make a decision to eat healthier food, to go to the gym or to give up smoking there is always the lingering chance that those decisions will be negated shortly after they are made.
“Relapse can be avoided by rewarding yourself every time you accomplish a milestone towards a desired healthy lifestyle change”, the article advises.
Social Networking
One train of thought is that social networking has made it more difficult for us to focus on making decisions. There have been several studies proving that websites such as Twitter and Facebook can lower attention spans, something you need to make informed decisions.
‘TheDailyBeast.com’ says that with more information, people’s decisions start to make less sense because of an overflow of information. This claim is backed up by the worrying fact that the Oxford English Dictionary added “information fatigue” in 2009.
The Power Of Instinct
Despite the odds being stacked against us, ‘Lesswrong.com’ argues that we’re not so bad at making decisions, and that we change our mind a lot less than we think.
It says: “only the actual causes of your beliefs determine your effectiveness as a rationalist. Once your belief is fixed, no amount of argument will alter the truth-value; once your decision is fixed, no amount of argument will alter the consequences.”
So there you have it, despite being tempted by 500 other versions of yogurt, you’re gut instinct will be what you probably end up listening to.
Next time you make a well-informed decision that you’re happy with, reward yourself with a luxurious bubble bath and a pat on the back. That is, if you can decide on which bubble bath to use.
Dee Mason is the editor for sofasandsectionals.com Dee can be reached at dee@wikivee.com.
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Hi Dee,
I have to agree that an overload of choices is as bad as having no choices at all. I believe in keeping things simple myself.
I was watching restaurant impossible and the menu in the restaurant that was being made over had like 15 pages and 200 different kinds of food to choose from.
The new menu that was created had 2 pages and about 15 items. Much simpler.
[Baker]´s last [Awesome] ..The Ego Mind And The Higher Mind
Hi Baker,
Complexity is easy, simplicity is hard.
We live in a world with more freedom and as a result we have more choices to make. For me, this means this is an opportunity to live more purposefully and to chose for our own destiny.
For me, following the gut feeling to make choices helps for expensive things and friends. For making the choices for weekly shopping, the rational ‘to-buy’ list, is still the most effective way.
Thanks for sharing!
[Baker]´s last [Awesome] ..50 inspirational quotes of Anthony Robins
Hi there,
Well Anxiety is the one fixed stage of fear an we will have to choice one particular stage and have to fixed in mind to come out of that anxiety.
So reduce your confusion to come out from anxiety with your choice.