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TheTyrannyofLogic suggests that havingoptions allows people to select precisely whatmakes them happiest. But as, studies show,abundant choice oftenmakes for misery By Barry Schwartzmericans today choose among moreoptions in more parts of life than hasever been possible before. To an extent, the opportunity to chooseenhances our lives. It is only logical to think that if some choice isgood, more is better; people who care about having infinite optionswill benefit from them, and those who do not can always just ig-nore the 273 versions of cereal they have never tried. Yet recent re-search strongly suggests that, psychologically, this assumption iswrong. Although some choice is undoubtedly better than none,more is not always better than evidence is consistent with large-scale social of well-being by various social scientists amongthem, David G. Myers ofHope College and Robert of Yale University re-veal that increased choice andincreased affluence have, infact, been accompanied bydecreased well-being in and most other affluent societies.

brood or ruminate more than satisficers do. Does it follow that maximizers are less happy in general than satisficers? We tested this by having people fill out a variety of questionnaires known to be reliable indicators of well-being. As might be expected, individuals with high maximization scores

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