Psychology of choice

[Holmz]

Saw the tail end of an ABC (Australian Broadcast Corp) program and they had a piece on the psychology of choice.

Basically the premise was that people are happier with less choice as that mitigates having regret.

The obvious (To me) is that these days even a second or third choice is better than the historical tools.
Anyhow I like having choice and weighing up the options, benefits, problems, etc.

It seems interesting and germane to our 1st world problems of tracks, and the choices of papers for sanders, and whether batteries are better than power cords. [wink]

 

[Kev]

Is the evolving creature blind to it's change?

 

[DB10]

Basically the premise was that people are happier with less choice as that mitigates having regret.

Oh Well, This would explaine why our friends in New Zealand are so happy then.

 

[Stephen B]

[size=13pt]It's a bit like so called Aussie Heratige Paint Colors; they are only Heratige because compared to today, there was definitely less Color choice in C19/early C20.

Imagine a future Heratige consultant trying to conform to the many tones of white that are now available.

[attachimg=1]

[size=8pt]From Dulux App.

 

[johnleve]

I heard something similar on the TED podcast a while ago, or maybe it was Freakenomics, I cannot recall.  I found it interesting and for me it had a truth in it.  I always like to do research before buying anything and dislike the feeling after the fact of not having gotten the best in my price range. 

One of the stories they had was of a guy going into a store to buy a pair of jeans and finding out that they now have ten times the types of jeans that they used to.  The salesperson asked him what type he wanted and he told them he wanted the type that used to be the only type.  Well after much aggravation and trying stuff on he walked out with the best fitting jeans he ever had but wondered if there was not another choice which would have been even better.

 

[Cheese]

Well after much aggravation and trying stuff on he walked out with the best fitting jeans he ever had but wondered if there was not another choice which would have been even better.

That's funny... [thumbs up]

 

[Holmz]

Well after much aggravation and trying stuff on he walked out with the best fitting jeans he ever had but wondered if there was not another choice which would have been even better.

That was the point.

People do not see as much humor when jeans are replaced with tools.

 

[nclemmons]

If you want to know more, Barry Schwartz's book "The Paradox of Choice" is a great read backed up by plenty of research.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paradox_of_Choice

 

[johnleve]

If you want to know more, Barry Schwartz's book "The Paradox of Choice" is a great read backed up by plenty of research.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paradox_of_Choice

That is the guy I mentioned earlier and it was a TED talk.  I just heard a portion of it on the TED podcast but I think I will watch it in full, there is a link to it in the wikipedia article.  Thank you for sharing this.

 

[Holmz]

So from 50 shades of grey to Schwartz and Weiß ?

 

[Andy UK]

Ah but do we have a choice?
Do we even have free will?
The science says we don't............ [eek]
"And some neuroscientists have even claimed that by examining patterns in the brain, they can predict decisions that we will take six or seven seconds before we ourselves consciously choose to take them."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23666726