"People were actually 6 times more likely to buy a jar of jam if they had encountered 6 than if they encountered 24, so what we learned from this study was that while people were more attracted to having more options, that's what sort of got them in the door or got them to think about jam, when it came to choosing time they were actually less likely to make a choice if they had more to choose from than if they had fewer to choose from."

3 likes

Source: Big Think Interview, bigthink.com.

About the author

Sheena Iyengar

Psychologist

Sheena Iyengar is a renowned psychologist known for her research on decision-making and the complexities of choice, particularly in cultural contexts.

All quotes by Sheena Iyengar →

Same author

More quotes by Sheena Iyengar

See all →
Sheena Iyengar Psychologist

"When we speak of choice, what we mean is the ability to exercise control over ourselves and our environment. In order to choose, we must first perceive that control is possible."

Read quote
Sheena Iyengar Psychologist

"Choice is more than picking 'x' over 'y.' It is a responsibility to separate the meaningful and the uplifting from the trivial and the disheartening. It is the only tool we have that enables us to go from who we are today to who we want to be tomorrow."

Read quote
Sheena Iyengar Psychologist

"What is freedom? Freedom is the right to choose: the right to create for oneself the alternatives of choice. Without the possibility of choice a man is not a man but a member, an instrument, a thing. —Archibald MacLeish"

Read quote
Sheena Iyengar Psychologist

"In order to 'hold fast' to something, one must allow oneself to be held to something. That commitment may be one of the hardest things to practice in a world of so much choice."

Read quote