The scale you completed was the
“Maximizer-Satisficer Scale,” developed by Barry Schwartz of Swarthmore College.
The scale is a measure of your tendency to "maximize", which is the tendency to always look for the most optimal choice in life. Also included was a measurement
of your tendency to feel regret in decision making which is related to the tendency to maximize.
In Schwartz's book, the Paradox of Choice, he talks about satisficing
style (looking for "good enough") versus maximizing style (looking for
"perfect"). People differ in the extent to which they adopt one of the
two studies. Schwartz and colleagues (2002) have developed a scale to
assess these tendencies.
Satisficing :People do want to maximize the extent to which their
choices match their preference, but choices themselves entail costs.
"Satisficing" is a decision-making style that seeks to minimize the
costs associated with decision-making itself.
Maximizing often comes with consequences and can also lead to lower satisfaction with life.
*Study 1: Iyengar job study. Students high in maximizing obtained jobs
with HIGHER salary, but in post-decision follow up report LOWER job
satisfaction than people low in maximizing (Decreased decision
satisfaction)
*Study 2: Ronquillo dating study. Increased attention to relationship
alternatives, increased infidelity
Increased Regret (Different relationship behavior)
Recent research has broken up the tendency to maximize into 3 dimensions, Alternative Search, Decision Difficulty, and High Standards. It has been
theorized that it is the alternative search and decision difficulty dimensions of maximizing that lead to adverse psychological effects. Having high
standards may actually be related to optimism in some cases.
The figure below shows your score in gray, compared to the average of all other visitors to this website,
in black. The scale runs from 1 (lowest) to 7 (highest possible score).
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