47 pages • 1 hour read
Barry SchwartzThe Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2004A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Background
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Key Figures
Themes
Index of Terms
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Tools
BetaPart 4Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 4: “What We Can Do”
Part 4, Chapter 11 Summary: “What We Can Do About Choice”
The success and convenience of modernity and its many choices has come with the price of distress and dissatisfaction. Schwartz suggests that there are solutions to this pervasive problem, but that they will require discipline and a new mindset. His first piece of advice is to “Choose When to Choose” (222). Since being confronted with choices has a cumulative, negative effect on one’s mental health, Schwartz recommends restricting one’s choices. For instance, if you need some new clothes, you could limit yourself to looking at two stores.
The next solution is to “Be A Chooser, Not A Picker” (224). This means thinking about your choices and how they contribute to your goals, rather than spontaneously picking an option. In Schwartz’s opinion, choosers make better decisions and are more likely to create opportunities for themselves in their choices. Thirdly, people should “Satisfice More and Maximize Less” (225). This means feeling satisfied with a certain standard rather than chasing perfection and dwelling on regrets. Next, the author tells the reader to “Think About the Opportunity Costs of Opportunity Costs” (227). In other words, stick to tried-and-true buying patterns in order to not waste time and emotional energy weighing the value of other possible choices.
Schwartz’s fifth recommendation is to make one’s choices non-reversible, since always wondering about another possible choice is a “prescription for misery” (229). Next, people should “Practice an Attitude of Gratitude” by remembering that there are many worse options than those we have. Gratitude often does not come naturally to people—we have to remind ourselves to be grateful (229). One way to develop this habit is to keep a gratitude journal, documenting something every day that you are grateful for.
The author tells the reader to never dwell on regrets, since the past cannot be changed anyways. Next, people should “anticipate adaptation” by understanding that the initial novelty and pleasure of something new always wears off. Only realistic expectations and remembering to feel gratitude can keep us from the “hedonic treadmill” of chasing new pleasure. His ninth recommendation is to “Control Expectations” instead of romanticizing choices and then being disappointed. Next, people must confront their instinct to compare themselves with others, since social comparison is “destructive to our sense of well-being” (234).
Finally, the author coaches the reader to “Learn to Love Constraints” (235). While limitations can seem negative on the surface, they often serve to protect us from constantly having to weigh new options and make new choices. By creating positive rules for daily life and following them routinely, people will eliminate daily hassles and time-wasting, and ultimately feel that they have more time and energy.
The author concludes his work by reminding the reader that they should strive for “freedom within limits” (236), as this makes life both meaningful and manageable.
Part 4 Analysis
In his final words to the reader, Schwartz summarizes his work’s main argument, lamenting the complicated nature of modernity and its overabundance of choices. He writes, “Having too many choices produces psychological distress, especially when combined with regret, concern about status, adaptation, social comparison, and perhaps most important, the desire to have the best of everything—to maximize” (221). Schwartz reiterates that choice overload brings with it significant consequence that can and should be avoided.
The author also develops his theme on The Relationship Between Choice, Freedom, and Happiness by asking the reader to think critically about their own choices and their feelings of satisfaction or disappointment with them. He urges the reader to look beyond their instinctive desire to have more choices, arguing that it is better for people to focus on their subjective experience of actually making decisions and living with their consequences. He observes, “If the ability to choose enables you to get a better car, house, job, vacation, or coffeemaker, but the process of choice makes you feel worse about what you’ve chosen, you haven’t really gained anything from the opportunity to choose” (222).
To help the reader solve this problem, Schwartz focuses on his theme Solutions to Choice Overload. By making numerous detailed recommendations to the reader, he suggests that individuals can empower themselves to avoid the mental distress, regret, and time-wasting that comes with too many options. In doing so he invites the reader to reflect on their own decision-making processes and how their relationship with choice might be negatively affecting their own life.
For instance, by recommending that people shop at only two stores for a new piece of clothing, Schwartz challenges the reader to think about how their own decision-making habits inadvertently consume their time and energy. The author’s recommendations build on his explanations of human behavior, suggesting that readers can use this new knowledge to manage their own flawed instincts. For instance, Schwartz’s recommendations to “regret less,” “anticipate adaptation,” and “control expectations,” argue that individuals can change their perspective and gain more satisfaction from their decisions.
Schwartz makes his recommendations by writing directly to the reader with a supportive, gently encouraging tone. For example, Schwartz coaxes the reader to try his two-option limit, writing, “But if you’ve been convinced by the arguments and the evidence in this book, you now know that choice has a downside, an awareness that should make it easier to adopt, and live with, a ‘two options is my limit’ rule. It’s worth a try” (223-224). Schwartz also shifts from the role of academic writer to presenting himself as more of a personal coach in the style of typical self-help books. For example, Schwartz tells the reader to try keeping a gratitude journal, writing, “You will probably feel a little silly and even self-conscious when you start doing this. But if you keep it up, you will find that it gets easier and easier, more and more natural” (230-231). By combining an encouraging tone with clear, reasoned recommendations, Schwartz invites readers to incorporate some of his actionable advice into their own lives.
