UnLtd Blogs - choice

Can You Have Choice Agoraphobia?

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 08:13:01 +0000

I was caught up in yet another discussion about choice recently. We were exchanging views on whether choice adds to our sense of freedom and happiness or whether being immersed in choice actually distracts our energy from more significant matters. The discussion ranged from the "we've never had it so good" school to Schwartz's recent account of the freedom to choose and Harbaugh's "falling behind the Joneses".

I was trying to express my experience that I meet many carers in Happystance workshops who relish some choices but are bewildered by others (e.g., to do with complex benefit/allowance applications; or indecision about what care package meets the needs of everybody involved). In the press of conversation I managed to mangle a cross between a spoonerism and a malaproprism. The spoonerism was between choice and consumer; the malapropism was substituting agoraphobia for a word that I no longer recall.

After my initial surprise, I thought about it and have decided that the phrases are apposite. Agoraphobia is literally fear of the marketplace. I think that 'consumer agoraphobia' can describe a condition where consumers are overwhelmed by choice. Some people are so overwhelmed by choice that they no longer want to take even small decisions because they trigger so much anxiety.

Can You Have Choice Agoraphobia?

Tue, 07 Mar 2006 18:39:59 +0000

I was caught up in yet another discussion about choice today. We were exchanging views on whether choice adds to our sense of freedom and happiness or whether being immersed in choice actually distracts our energy from more significant matters. The discussion ranged from the "we've never had it so good" school to Schwartz's recent account of the freedom to choose and Harbaugh's "falling behind the Joneses".

One example is that consumer experts constantly tell us that most of us have not got the best deal that we could on credit cards, bank accounts, utility providers etc. They emphasise how easy it is to change our providers and research the best deal and yet apparently more than 80% of us never do such research despite the fact that not doing so may cost us considerable sums of money.

Is Freedom Linked To Happiness?

Thu, 02 Mar 2006 15:21:51 +0000

Professor Rummel offers an exploration of the utilitarian argument for freedom. Essentially, social and political freedoms promote subjective well-being (particularly happiness and satisfaction) in the general population: policies promoting freedom are therefore desirable. In many ways, these freedoms are qualitatively different freedoms than the ones discussed in Schwartz's recent account of the freedom to choose and falling behind the Joneses.

Rummel discusses several well-reported findings in the cross-cultural analyses of subjective well-being (SWB). He reports that SWB is "critical to the stability of a nation's political institutions and particularly the stability of democracy". However, Rummel goes on to detail further analyses that may emphasise the role of other factors. He quotes Inglehart and Klingemman's conclusion:

These findings in no way refute the evidence that genetic factors play an important role in subjective well-being; we find that evidence compelling. But these findings do indicate that genetic factors are only part of the story. Happiness levels vary cross-culturally. Since cultures are constructed by human beings, this suggests that the pursuit of happiness is not completely futile. Genes may play a crucial role, but beliefs and values also are important. Our findings also indicate that varying levels of well-being are closely linked with a society's political institutions: sharp declines in a society's level of well-being can lead to the collapse of the social and political system; while high levels of well-being contribute to the survival and flourishing of democratic institutions.

Rummel's final analysis leads him to conclude that freedom does display the highest correlation with well-being. However, in line with Schwartz's work, it does seem as if the nature of the freedom is relevant: there are significant individual differences that govern how well we can cope with some freedoms and choice.

What Is The Freedom To Choose?

Mon, 27 Feb 2006 16:02:21 +0000

There is an interesting piece in the New York Times that asks Is Freedom Just Another Word for Many Things to Buy?. The authors claim:

Americans are increasingly bewildered � not liberated � by the sheer volume of choices they must make in a day.
As behavioral scientists, we have found that the people who frame freedom in terms of choice are usually the ones who get to make a lot of choices � that is, middle- and upper-class white Americans (most of our study participants are white; we can't make any claims about other racial and ethnic groups). The education, income and upbringing of these Americans grant them choices about how to live their lives and also encourage them to express their preferences and personalities through the choices they make. Most Americans, however, are not from the college-educated middle and upper classes. Working-class Americans often have fewer resources and experience greater uncertainty and insecurity. For them, being free is less about making choices that reflect their uniqueness and mastery and more about being left alone, with their personality, integrity and well-being intact.

There are some provocative examples that show why having a plethora of choice can bring about paralysis of action. It is possible to extend this work to account for why uncertainty and axiety about making choices can bring about learned helplessness.