The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less

Dr. Barry Schwartz is an American psychologist, author, and professor. After studying at New York University and the University of Pennsylvania, Schwartz began his career in academia, researching decision-making, morals, and motivation. Schwartz currently teaches at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, where he is the Dorwin P. Cartwright Professor Emeritus in Social Theory and Social Action.

Schwartz has published numerous research articles in academic journals, newspapers, and magazines, including Scientific American, American Psychologist, Psychological Science, and The New York Times. Schwartz has also been featured as a TED speaker, delivering talks on psychology and modern life. In his most popular TED Talk he explores the topic “The paradox of choice,” in which he explains his argument that choice overload has a detrimental effect on decision-making and people’s mental health.

Schwartz has also authored several books aimed at the general public, including The Battle for Human Nature: Science, Morality and Modern Life; The Costs of Living: How Market Freedom Erodes the Best Things in Life; and Practical Wisdom: The Right Way to Do the Right Thing. Schwartz’s decades of experience investigating choice, decision making, and personal control help him lay a solid academic foundation in The Paradox of Choice. Throughout his career, Schwartz has established an accessible speaking and writing style, communicating scientific theories to a general reading audience.

In an effort to both clearly explain choice overload and offer pragmatic advice to help the reader fix it, Schwartz fuses two distinct genres together: Academic investigation and personal self-help. His more academic content is bolstered by references to a wide variety of experts and studies. He refers to research by economist Amartya Sen, author of Development as Freedom, and psychologist Daniel Kahneman, the author of Thinking, Fast and Slow, both of whom have examined the role of choice and decision-making in modern life. Schwartz also references philosopher Alain de Botton, legal scholar Cass Sunstein, and experts from other fields of study. This interdisciplinary approach helps illustrate Schwartz’s argument that too many choices hinder people’s ability to make rational, satisfying decisions.

However, Schwartz also offers actionable solutions to the reader, borrowing from the language and presentation of the self-help genre by presenting a list of fixes to the problem. In doing so he gives his work a more personal touch, directly addressing the reader and inviting them to form new habits around making choices. This approach solidifies Schwartz’s reputation as a pragmatic problem solver.