You're in search of a new coffee maker, and the simple quest becomes,
well, an ordeal. After doing copious amounts of research and reading
dozens of consumer reviews, you finally make a purchase, only to wonder:
"Was this the right choice? Could I do better? What is the return
policy?"
Reality check: Is this you?
If so, new research from Florida State University may shed some
light on your inability to make a decision that you'll be happy with.
Joyce Ehrlinger, an assistant professor of psychology, has long been
fascinated with individuals identified among psychologists as
"maximizers." Maximizers tend to obsess over decisions — big or small —
and then fret about their choices later. "Satisficers," on the other
hand, tend to make a decision and then live with it.
Happily.
Of course, there are shades of gray. In fact, there's a whole
continuum of ways people avoid commitment without really avoiding it.
Ehrlinger's latest research on decision making was published in the peer-reviewed journal Personality and Individual Differences.
The paper, "Failing to Commit: Maximizers Avoid Commitment in a Way
That Contributes to Reduced Satisfaction," was co-authored with her
graduate student, doctoral candidate Erin Sparks, and colleague Richard
Eibach, a psychology assistant professor at the University of Waterloo
in Ontario, Canada. It examines whether "maximizers show less commitment
to their choices than satisficers in a way that leaves them
lesssatisfied with their choices."
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