Maximizer and Satisfier....Which are you?

I recently read Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz. This book discusses how our everyday decisions have become overly complex due to the abundance of choices that are available to us. Schwartz puts people into two categories when it comes to making these choices: a satisficer and a maximizer.

A satisficer is someone who stops looking for what they want once they find something that meets their needs. They will settle for mediocrity. This is not always a bad thing. Satisfiers are happy with the choices they make simply because their choice is one that satisfied their need.

Maximizers are looking for the optimal solution. They might find what they're looking for, but they're always on the search for the possibility of there being something better out there. Maximizers have to be careful that they don't get too wrapped up in always making the "best" decision. This can cause unrealistic wants and needs, which can cause a maximizer to never fee truly satisfied.

This was on my mind last weekend when I went home to visit my family for the weekend. I started to think about it I was more of a maximizer or a satisficer, and wondered what the rest of my family was as well. I go home on Friday night. Before Saturday morning was over, I already had multiple situations that I could relate back to these two different perspectives.

My mom took me with her to go shopping for a birthday present for my older sister. Driving to the mall, my mom and I battled for who got to play DJ with the radio. When it comes to listening to the radio in the car, I am a maximizer. It drives my mom insane. I will seek through every station available once before I will decide which one I want to listen to. My mom on the other hand finds a station with something she likes and doesn't look any further, which drives me crazy. I always wonder about the possibility of what is playing on the other stations that might be better than the music we are listening to in that moment.

When we got to the mall, our roles reversed dramatically. Right off the bat, I had found a necklace
that I knew my sister would love. I was ready to purchase it right then and there and head home. However my mom wanted to see what else was out there. Before I knew it, 3 hours had passed by. We walked around the mall close to 3 times looking at different options. I became frustrated with my mom because I knew my sister would love the necklace, but instead we were wasting our time looking at things that would not be as good as a gift as it. Finally, my mom and I went back to the jewelry store to purchase the necklace. In my mind, I was thinking "all of that work for an option that she would have been satisfied with in the beginning". The picture to the left is how I felt after this excursion. I was exhausted.

After observing my family for the weekend and watching them switch between maximizing is satisficing, I concluded that everyone is both a maximizer and satisficer, depending on the situation. However, I think a person can be more of one type than the other. For example, I believe my mom tends to fall more under the maximizer category, however she is not a maximizer in every aspect of her life. I follow in my mom's footsteps and tend to be more of a maximizer too. Now that I'm aware of this, I want to work on not focusing on picking the "best" option, but rather picking an option that satisfies my needs and being happy with it. I believe this will be better on my emotional health. It will also help me save time that can be spent on things that actually matter, such as spending time with my family and friends. I'd never realized how much we focus on the abundance of choices that are presented to us on a daily basis. From here on out, I'm challenging myself to recognize this and not let it consume my life.