Variety is the spice of life, but is there such a thing as too much choice?
According to a recent study (slated for publication), the endless array of
options for everything from diet to schools to careers can paralyze us with
indecision. And once we finally make a choice we often regret our decision,
wondering if, given all the other possibilities, it was truly the best one.
To make matters worse, this navel-gazing can lead to selfishness, as we
become obsessed with ourselves, and what our decisions say about who we are.
As the study’s author, Hazel Rose Markus, a psychology professor at Stanford
University, explains: “The enormous opportunity for growth and
self-advancement that flows from unlimited freedom of choice may diminish
rather than enhance subjective well-being.” The paralysis of choice,
however, is somewhat of a bourgeois pickle: the study found that
non-Westerners and working class Westerners don’t put the same emphasis on
having an abundance of choice as the middle and upper classes.
Source: http://bit.ly/4qe9TY
As I comment over there, people at the bottom of the income ladder also face
too many choices which they must make every day. The stress caused from this
is both felt and visible, in terms of eroding health and mobility; added
stress, for example, increases the likelihood of disability. Having to make
so many choices is a key theme in blogs by people of very low-income. In the
new blog, economicus ridiculous, which was launched January 1st, there are
already seven posts with the tag 'Choices'. Choice is an exhausting fact of
life for us.
Ocean
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Blog: economicus ridiculous ... exercises in miserly minimalism
http://economicusridiculous.blogspot.com/
Blog: Challenging the Commonplace ... and other irreverent activities
http://challengingthecommonplace.blogspot.com/
Book: Policies of Exclusion, Poverty & Health: Stories from the front
Podcasts of book: http://bcseawalker.podbean.com/
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