Maximiser or satisficer

Faced with a choice — a job, a phone, a place to eat — do you hunt for the very best option, or take the first one that is good enough? Psychologist Barry Schwartz named the first tendency maximising and the second satisficing. The short Maximisation Scale maps it across three sides: how widely you search for alternatives, how hard you find the act of deciding, and how high you set your standards. Maximisers often end up with objectively better outcomes yet feel more regret and less satisfaction with them — the heart of what Schwartz called the paradox of choice.

Maximising versus satisficing was introduced by Schwartz, Ward, Monterosso, Lyubomirsky, White and Lehman (2002), who built the first Maximisation Scale and linked a strong maximising tendency to more regret, more social comparison and lower life satisfaction. Nenkov, Morrin, Ward, Schwartz and Hulland (2008) refined it into a validated short form with three facets — alternative search, decision difficulty and high standards — of which the first two track with dissatisfaction while high standards is the more adaptive, growth-oriented side. Offered here as a reflective self-rating, not a clinical measure: neither style is better, and most people sit somewhere in between and shift with how much the choice matters. (Maximisation Scale (Schwartz et al. 2002; short form Nenkov et al. 2008))

Dimensions

Alternative search (Settles on good enough – Scans every option) — How widely you cast about before choosing. At the high end you keep looking for more options — more listings, more reviews, more of what else is out there — even once a good one is already in hand; at the low end you commit to the first option that clears the bar and move on.
Decision difficulty (Chooses with ease – Agonises over choices) — How hard the act of deciding itself feels. At the high end a wide menu is daunting — picking a gift, a film or a dish can mean second-guessing and delay; at the low end choices come easily and you rarely look back once they are made.
High standards (Good enough is fine – Holds out for the best) — How high you set the bar for yourself and your choices. At the high end you want the very best and rarely settle for second-rate; at the low end good enough genuinely satisfies. Of the three sides this is the most adaptive — it pairs with curiosity and drive more than with regret.

Maximiser or satisficer

Dimensions

References

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