In America, people are faced with more and more decisions everyday, whether it’s picking 1 of 31 icecream flavors, or deciding whether and when to get married. That sounds like a great thing, but as a recent study has shown, too many choices can make us confused, unhappy, even paralyzed with indecision. That’s particularly true when it comes to the work place, says Barry Schwaltz, an author of six books about human behaviour. Students are graduating with the variety of skills and interests, but often find themselves overwhelmed when it comes to choosing an ultimate career goal. In a study, Schwaltz observed decission making among college students during their senior year based on the answers to questions regarding their job hunting strategies and career decisions. He divided the students into two groups: maximizers, who consider every possible option, and satisfisers, who look until they find an option which is good enough. You might expect that the students who had undertaken the most
would be the most satisfied with their final decision, but it turns out that’s not true. Schwaltz found that while maximizers ended up with better-paying jobs than satisfysers on average, they weren’t as happy with their decision. The reason why these people feel less satisfied is that a world of possibilities may also be a world of missed opportunities. When you look at every possible option, you tend to focus more on what was given up than what was gained. After surveying every option, a person is more acutely aware of the opportunities they had to turn down to pursue just one career.