You’re standing in the grocery store aisle. There are twenty-four different types of jam. You just wanted something to put on your toast, but suddenly, you’re paralyzed. Strawberry? Organic strawberry? Balsamic-infused strawberry? Ten minutes pass. You leave with nothing. This isn't just you being "indecisive." It's a psychological phenomenon that fundamentally alters how we live, shop, and even date.
The paradox of choice why more is less is a concept that sounds wrong on the surface. We’re taught that freedom is synonymous with choice. More options should mean a higher probability of finding the perfect fit. But in reality, once you cross a certain threshold, those extra options don't make you freer. They make you miserable.
The Jam Study That Changed Everything
In 2000, psychologists Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper published a study that basically blew the doors off traditional economic theory. They set up a tasting booth with Wilkin & Sons jams at an upscale grocery store. In one scenario, they offered 24 flavors. In another, only six.
Here’s the kicker.
The big display attracted more people—60% of shoppers stopped by. Only 40% stopped at the small display. You’d think the big display won, right? Wrong. When it came time to actually buy, only 3% of the people at the big booth pulled the trigger. At the small booth? Thirty percent bought jam.
People were ten times more likely to purchase when they had fewer choices.
Why? Because the mental cost of comparing 24 jams is exhausting. It creates "analysis paralysis." When you have six options, you can easily weigh the pros and cons. When you have two dozen, your brain just short-circuits and says, "Forget it, I’ll just have cereal."
Barry Schwartz and the Weight of "Best"
Barry Schwartz, a psychologist who literally wrote the book on this—The Paradox of Choice—argues that our culture of abundance is actually a recipe for clinical depression. He divides people into two camps: Maximizers and Satisficers.
Maximizers are the ones who need the absolute best. They read every review on Amazon. They check every flight price. They spend three hours picking a Netflix movie only to fall asleep ten minutes in. Satisficers, on the other hand, have a set of criteria. Once they find something that meets those criteria, they stop looking. They’re done.
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Guess who's happier?
The satisficers. Always.
Maximizers often get better objective results—they might find a cheaper flight or a slightly better camera—but they feel worse about their choice. They’re haunted by the "ghost of the better option." They wonder if that other lens would have been sharper or if that other hotel had better pillows. This constant second-guessing is the dark side of the paradox of choice why more is less.
Why Modern Technology Makes This Worse
It’s not just jam anymore. It’s everything.
Look at dating apps. In the 1950s, you probably married someone from your neighborhood or your church. You had maybe five "viable" options. Today, you have a literal infinite scroll of humans on Tinder or Hinge. You’d think this would lead to better marriages. Instead, it leads to "disposable" dating. If your date makes one weird joke or wears shoes you don't like, you think, No big deal, I have 500 more people waiting in my pocket.
This abundance makes us less committed and more likely to bail at the first sign of friction. It also makes us less satisfied when we do pick someone. We’re constantly comparing our real-life partner to the idealized "potential" of a thousand digital profiles.
Then there's the professional world. LinkedIn has made it so you can see every job you don't have. You’re no longer just competing with the guy in the office next to you; you’re comparing your career trajectory to everyone on the planet. This creates a "fomo" (fear of missing out) that is biologically taxing.
The High Cost of Opportunity
Every time you choose something, you are simultaneously rejecting everything else. This is "opportunity cost."
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When you have two options, the "cost" of choosing A is just missing out on B. When you have 100 options, the cost of choosing A is missing out on B, C, D, and the rest of the alphabet. Even if A is great, your brain focuses on the accumulated "goodness" of all the things you didn't pick.
It's a losing game.
Real-World Examples of "Less is More"
Some of the most successful companies in the world figured this out a long time ago.
- Costco: A typical supermarket carries 30,000 items. Costco carries about 4,000. They pick the best ketchup, the best tires, and the best crackers. You don't have to think. You trust their curation. This is why their members are insanely loyal.
- Apple: Think about their product line. For years, Steve Jobs insisted on a very limited number of models. You want a laptop? Here are two choices. It reduces the friction of buying.
- In-N-Out Burger: Their menu is basically three items. Burger, cheeseburger, double-double. Because the choice is so simple, the kitchen is fast, the food is fresh, and customers don't feel stressed ordering.
Compare that to a 20-page diner menu. You spend fifteen minutes reading, feel rushed by the server, and eventually order the same club sandwich you always get because you're too overwhelmed to try the "Zesty Cajun Tilapia."
How to Beat the Paradox
You can't delete the modern world, but you can change how you interact with it. The goal is to move from a Maximizer mindset to a Satisficer mindset.
Honestly, it’s about setting "good enough" thresholds.
If you’re buying a new toaster, decide on three things it must have. Maybe it needs to be stainless steel, under $50, and have a bagel setting. The first one you find that fits those three? Buy it. Do not look at the "sponsored" alternatives. Do not read the one-star reviews from a guy in Nebraska who's mad the cord is too short. Just buy it and move on with your life.
Limit Your Research Time
Give yourself a "clock out" time for decisions. Spending four days researching a $200 vacuum cleaner is a poor use of your life. Your time has a dollar value. If you spend five hours saving $20, you actually lost money.
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Practice "Reversible" vs. "Irreversible" Decisions
Jeff Bezos famously talks about Type 1 and Type 2 decisions. Type 1 are one-way doors—hard to undo (like quitting a job or buying a house). Take your time on those. Type 2 are two-way doors (like what you eat for dinner or what color shirt you buy). These should be made fast. If you don't like it, you can change it later. Most of our stress comes from treating Type 2 decisions like they're Type 1.
Use Curation
Stop trying to be your own expert on everything. Follow people whose taste you trust. If a tech reviewer you like says "this is the best mid-range phone," just believe them. Use the work they’ve already done to narrow your field of choice.
The Psychological Burden of Responsibility
One of the sneakiest parts of the paradox of choice why more is less is that it shifts the blame for a bad outcome onto you.
Back when there was only one type of phone, if it dropped calls, you blamed the phone company. It wasn't your fault; that's just how phones were. Now, if you buy a phone and it’s buggy, you blame yourself. You think, I should have researched more. I should have seen that forum post about the battery life.
This self-blame leads to increased anxiety and, in extreme cases, a sense of helplessness. We are surrounded by "perfect" options, so if our lives aren't perfect, we feel like we've failed at the "choosing" part of life.
Actionable Steps for Regaining Sanity
- Audit your subscriptions. Having 10 streaming services makes it harder to pick a show. Cut it down to two. You’ll actually watch more and browse less.
- Set "The Rule of Three." When choosing a restaurant or a vacation spot, find three good candidates and then stop. Pick from those three. No more searching.
- Lower your expectations. This sounds depressing, but it’s actually the secret to happiness. If you expect your choice to be "perfect," you will always be disappointed. If you expect it to be "pretty good," you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
- Standardize the small stuff. Wear a "uniform" or eat the same breakfast. Removing low-stakes choices saves your "decision capital" for the stuff that actually matters.
The world isn't going to give us fewer choices. If anything, AI and personalized marketing are going to give us more. The only way to survive without losing your mind is to realize that "more" is often just noise. Real freedom isn't the ability to choose between 50 different toothpastes; it’s the ability to spend less time thinking about toothpaste and more time thinking about things that actually fulfill you.
Start by looking at your most recent "paralysis" moment. Was it really that important? Probably not. Next time, just pick the first thing that works and don't look back. Your brain will thank you for the extra breathing room.