Are you a Maximizer or a Satisficer?

According to Barry Schwartz, author of The Parodox of Choice, Why More is Less, many Americans are drowning in a sea of choice. From car models to 401K options, to cereal brands, to phone companies, we've got more choices than ever but less happiness. (Hmm?)

There are two types of decision-makers.

Maximizers are people that employ strategies to get the very best by examining all possible alternatives.

Satisficers are satisfied with "good enough". They may have standards that are quite high but once they meet those criteria they select that option.

Maximizers are often quite successful and high achieving but they also tend to be less optimistic, less satisfied, have lower self-esteem, and are less happy than satisficers. (Wow!)

Schwartz believes we can only be anything we want to be in an environment where constraint is possible. (Fascinating - How Un-American!)

Schwartz tells us that modern consumer culture offers us more choice but less satisfaction and he attributes the epidemic of depression to this paradox.

People can learn to be satisficers. Our ancestors did it quite well.

Can You?