Jordandchan

Are you a person who likes lots of choices? Or does it make life more difficult.

Frank Chimero has an interesting post over on his site talking about choices. In it he cites a study by Dan Gilbert that found people who made a decision about receiving something, with the knowledge they couldn’t change their mind or swap, were happier with their decision than those who knew they would have the option to swap.

This is an interesting comment on the nature of choices in life. There is an assumed, but often unspoken, truth that having more choices should make people happier as they have more chance of getting something they want. We live our lives in such a way that we are always considering the “what if”. What if we try this instead of that? What if I do this thing for a while, instead of what I am currently doing.

It is why there is a generational shift to changing jobs regularly, where in the past people would stay at the same place for 30 or 40 years. It is seen in the consumerist “what do I get out of it” approach to commitment and decision making. We also see it in the myriad of ways you can tweak and customise any sort of purchase you make, to make it “yours”. We see people paralysed by choice - so many options that they can’t choose, in case the miss out on something.

And yet this study seems to suggest those who didn’t have the option to change their choice, were happier. As Chimero says “…if you’re stuck with something, you’ll find a way to like it, even if it means changing how you think about it.” He argues that the solution is to find ways to prepare ourselves to better cope with multiple choices. I’m not entirely sure this is the best method.

There is a simplicity and gracefulness in being content. The people in the study who made a choice and had to stick with it made the best of their decision, as they knew that was what they had decided. They were willing to be content with that, and were happier for it. I think there is a challenge in that.