When Choices Aren't a Good Thing . . .

Who doesn't like to have choices?  

 Who hates to have choices?

 It's a crazy thing but when people are faced with more options than they can effectively consider  to make a good decision, a lot of the time they’re unable to do so, according to the results of a novel study from the University at Buffalo that used cardiovascular measures and fictional dating profiles to reach its conclusions, newswise.com states.
Despite the apparent opportunities presented by a lot of options, the need to choose creates a “paralyzing paradox,” according to Thomas Saltsman, a graduate student in the UB Department of Psychology and co-author of the study with Mark Seery, an associate professor of psychology at UB, the web site reports.
“You want to make a good choice, but feel like you can’t,” says Saltsman. “This combination of perceiving high stakes and low ability may contribute to a deep-seated fear that one will inevitably make the wrong choice, which could stifle the decision-making process.”
To manage the seemingly unmanageable, Saltsman says to consider the relative importance of the choice at hand, newswise advises.
I'm a quick decision-maker.  I don't like to think too much about my choices, I go with my gut, which I always respected until I learned that someone I don't much respect does, too.  But my gut has been pretty right on most of the time.
I knew the night I met my husband he was the one, and even though I can't say I had dozens of choices when it came to men, I'd seen enough to know that he was definitely my first choice.
“Choosing the wrong menu item for dinner or what to binge-watch is not going to define you as a person,” he says at newswise. “It may also be helpful to enter high-choice situations with a few clear guidelines of what you want from your desired option. Doing so may not only help scale down the number of possible choices, by eliminating options that do not meet your guidelines, but may also bolster confidence and trust in your ability to find a choice that meets your needs.”
Previous research clearly establishes how choice overload is associated with negative outcomes, but this research looks specifically at two understudied motivational factors of decision-making: how valuable is the decision to someone and to what extent do people view themselves as capable of making a good choice, according to newswise.com.
Having choices seems like an appealing situation that speaks to freedom and autonomy. But the emerging digital realities manifest in forums like online shopping and entertainment can be overwhelming.
Searching online for a spring jacket can return thousands of hits. One streaming service claims to offer more than 7,000 titles, while online dating services can enroll millions of subscribers.
All of those choices seems like a great idea, according to Seery.  Until you’re actually the one having to choose.
I was lucky.  In my day we went to singles' weekends and bars where the choices were very limited!
“We love having these choices, but when we’re actually faced with having to choose from among those countless options, the whole process goes south,” says Seery. “Research shows that, after the fact, people often regret their decision in these cases, but what our research suggests is that this kind of turn – the inherent paradox of liking choices and then being troubled by choices – happens almost immediately."

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