TOO MANY OPTIONS IN MODERN SOCIETY

Paradox of choice Having too many options leads to anxious, indecisive society

John Yun yunjoh000@hsestudents.org

From marinade to laptops, many stores provide a variety of options to attract their customers. For a single product, there can be millions of varieties, each only slightly different froU one another. )lthough it is a tactic used by coUpanies to allo_ custoUers to find the perfect fit for theU and to increase sales, there are detriUental effects, such as an`iety and indecisiveness, from having too many options. Having more choice when shopping may seeU beneficial because people are able to have Uore control over the e`act types of product they _ant. .or e`aUple, _hen soUeone _ants to purchase packaged chicken at grocery stores, these stores have plenty of options that can fit any dietary plan. They can purchase “free range” chickens, “pastured” chicken, “organic” chicken and many more. However, at a certain point, the diversification of options _ill begin to paralybe the decision-making abilities of the consumer. This concept is _ell portrayed in ¹The 8arado` of +hoiceº, a book _ritten by Barry ;ch_artb. 1n the book, ;ch_artb e`plains ho_ that freedoU of choice, ranging from trivial matters to real challenges that today’s society enjoys, has become a problem for our psychological and emotional well-being. When people are faced with making a decision involving many options, they begin to measure the tradeoffs of each and overthink. Because there are so many options, many people may postpone decisions or not make them at all. )lthough this indecisiveness can be uniUportant when choosing a salad dressing, it can have heavy tolls when you postpone which college you want to apply to and what courses you want to take because of the overwhelming options. One notable study that showed the negative effects of Uultiple options _as conducted by psychologists Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper. In the study, the psychologists displayed 24 different options of gourUet RaU on one day and displayed only si` options of the gourUet RaU on another day. Each person that sampled the jams got a coupon for  off a RaU of their choosing. The results of the study were that the large display attracted more customers than the small numbers; However, when it came to purchasing, 30% of the people that sampled from the small variety decided to buy jam while 3% of the people that sampled from the large variety decided to buy jam. So, with the increase of jam Æavors, the indecisiveness of custoUers increased. Furthermore, people that make too many choices suffer froU decision fatigue, a _ord made by social psychologist Roy F. Baumeister. Decision fatigue refers to the decrease in quality of decision-making as people make more and more choices. So, when people are spending all their decision-making skills on trivial things, they are unable to make great decisions when it comes to important issues. Even when a person does make a decision, there are negative effects that happen after they make their choice. If the result is not what they e`pected, it can lead to an`iety. 8eople can think that there is a better alternative to the choice they Uade and regret their past actions. )lso, they Uay become insecure about future choices that they need to make. In a society that cherishes freedom and embraces choice, having an unlimited number of options can be viewed as almost a certain privilege. People love being able to choose what they want because it makes them feel powerful and in control of their own destiny. However, too much choice will damage our society, so we must limit the amount of trivial choices that we make and focus on the most important choices that will help us grow as humans in the future.