UX Psychology – The Paradox of Choice - with Prof. Barry Schwartz

The Paradox of Choice. Rich, democratic societies have taken it for granted that since freedom of choice is good, more of it must be better. Two decades of research suggest that though quite reasonable, this assumption is false. Choice is good, but there can be too much of a good thing, and when there is, it results in paralysis rather than freedom, worse decisions, and dissatisfaction with even good decisions. I will suggest that at least some of the malaise, anxiety, drug use, and depression that are reaching epidemic proportions across many rich societies can be traced to the unlimited freedom of choice our young people now face, concerning both small decisions and big ones. Bio: Barry Schwartz is an emeritus professor of psychology at Swarthmore College and a visiting professor at the Haas School of Business at Berkeley. He has spent fifty years thinking and writing about the interaction between economics, psychology, and morality. He has written several books that address aspects of this interaction, including The Battle for Human Nature, The Costs of Living, The Paradox of Choice, Practical Wisdom, and most recently, Why We Work. Schwartz has written for sources as diverse as The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, the Chronicle of Higher Education, Slate, Scientific American, The New Republic, the Harvard Business Review, and the Guardian. He has appeared on dozens of radio shows, including NPR’s Morning Edition, and Talk of the Nation, and has been interviewed on Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN), the PBS News Hour, The Colbert Report, and CBS Sunday Morning. Schwartz has spoken four times at the TED conference, and his TED talks have been viewed by more than 25 million people.