Poll: For You is Life a Decision of Choices or Choices, Choices and More Choices?

[Badger]

I research, plan, and know my options. If there is a time constraint I have no problem making decisions quickly if no other options are available. Rarely if ever have buyers remorse.


Cheers!

 

[ckelly78z]

I must be a locomotive, but I research extensively, and am confident in my decisions. I hardly ever regret my decisions, unlike my Mother in-law. She will be the last to choose a dinner entree when at a restaurant, fret, and worry about it, then finally get her food, and regret that she didn't order something else. She has actually mentioned a week later that she should have gotten the fish instead of the steak !

 

[Gumby]

These categories most likely reflect the difference between a satisficer and a maximizer....

A very astute observation. I probably find it easier to make a decision because for me there is a very wide range of "acceptable".

 

[Andre1969]

I wonder if people can change, over the years. For example, back in 1999, my stepdad wanted to buy a new car. He researched the hell out of them, took ages to decide, and finally bought a 1999 Nissan Altima. Later that year, I took my uncle to the dealer to get his truck out of the service center. While we were there, my uncle said "let's go look at some new cars". That evening, I was coming home in a brand new 2000 Intrepid. I had second thoughts about it, for a few days, maybe a week, but then got over it, and on with life.

Now, here it is, 20 years later. The thought of buying a new car scares me. I worry about whether it's a wise choice, period, compared to driving the older car I have now. Other uses that money could be put to. And then I worry, am I going to pick the right car, start thinking about how I only have so many vehicle purchases left in my life, and so on.

Maybe the old saying, that we turn into our parents, is true?

 

[Ready-4-ER-at-14]

Had a tape series called 10 10 10 think there is a book about it too.
Woman author described making decisions based on effect it would have in progressively long periods of time.
10 minute 10 days 10years.
When I have a decision that affects only a few minutes of life, it is of little importance.
IE a battery died and spouse knew I had an event. She called AAA and they came and replaced the battery. It affected her for 10 minutes. In early days paying $50 extra would have affected the budget for a month and would have required some thought and cost control.
In important things to me like investing, I have read a bit here and there on almost every topic most of my lifetime on it. And early investments had a lot of research as that investment was important to us. Now a new investment is just another sheep to join my herd and if it passes a quick check of health I shoot from the hip.

So I do both type of decision making.

 

[NW-Bound]

These categories most likely reflect the difference between a satisficer and a maximizer.

Satisficer - Has a set of criteria for a decision to be made. Once something is found that meets the criteria then the decision is made. Example: Buying a house. Have criteria for size, price, location, layout. See a house that meets the criteria. Done, make an offer. Basically decides once something has been found that satisfies the criteria.

Maximizer -- Also has criteria, and maybe the same criteria. But the maximizer wants to make the optimal decision. The maximizer would still want to continue looking at all the other houses that meet the criteria and then decide among the best.

DH is a satisficer. I am a maximizer. Looking for houses (or anything else) is often an exercise in frustration for me. I mean if he hates a house and it doesn't meet criteria he will say so. But, we could go out and look at 5 houses with a real estate agent and he would say they were all fine. He couldn't understand why that was unsatisfying to me. I want to hear which one he thought was best and I could agonize over minute details to make that determination. But, I wanted to decide which of these "fine" houses was the best one.

But that fits with this whole locomotive thing (or not) DH is definitely locomotive and I am the opposite....

Reading The Paradox of Choice - Why More is Less (2004) by Barry Schwartz, I have learned to be more of a satisficer.

 

[Willers]

I'm definitely a locomotive and every personality test from my working days confirmed it. I do the best I can with the information I have and move forward.

I find buyers remorse an interesting concept. Although I made decisions easily, I certainly have looked back at times and realized that I made the sub-optimal or wrong decision. In those cases I change course and correct the error. Sometimes there is a cost to that, but oh well. To me buyers remorse is really an inability or unwillingness to correct; to not being willing to make another decision even when new facts appear.

PS - yes...Neil Peart...the best EVER!

 

[pacergal]

voted combo--as others have said, depends on the situation.

 

[skipro33]

I chose 'other'
I do extensive research, enjoy the process and do not feel overwhelmed and almost never have remorse. With the ease of Amazon refund policy, if I changed my mind for any reason, it goes back. Plain and simple. It would have to take a car or house to feel remorse and I'm much too careful for that.

 

[joeea]

Which type of decision maker are you? Mainly, two types are described:

1) "Assessment decision-makers" – They do extensive research, but they often feel overwhelmed and stressed when deciding, then feel buyer's remorse afterward.

2) "Locomotive decision-makers" – They choose quickly, based on available information. They do not get overwhelmed or stressed, and are often satisfied with their choice.

Neither.

I do extensive research for important decisions. For less important decisions, I do less research. For unimportant decisions, I don't waste time on research.

I always make decisions based on available information. More information becomes available after research.

I don't feel overwhelmed, or stressed, not do I feel buyer's remorse. I am satisfied with my choices.

I call this "normal real life decision-makers when click bait isn't required".

 

[athena53]

I must be a locomotive, but I research extensively, and am confident in my decisions. I hardly ever regret my decisions <snip>

I'm a mix of types as well. I do my research and then may make what looks like a lightning-fast decision and never look back.

Favorite example: the first time I went jewelry-shopping with my work colleagues in India, I chose a few lovely pieces and spent about what I'd planned. Once I saw what I liked, I stopped looking. Why complicate the decision? My colleagues were stunned- they said they'd spend hours checking all the options and then making a choice. I told them, "I know what I like. When I see it, I buy it".

The next morning I think every woman in the office knew what I'd spent on jewelry before I walked in the door.

 

[foxfirev5]

Locomotive. Plenty of research to backup a quick decision when an opportunity presents itself. A few well timed transactions served me well in the past. Now it's more like minimizing the number of decisions that need to be made.

 

[sengsational]

I have a general problem with the split, assigning negative aspects to the careful decision maker.


Transitional style would have the careful analysis and then full steam ahead with no regrets and no looking back.


I voted assessment since it describes me better and I don't like to be indecisive about polls (the results are boring if everyone votes 'other' on a technicality).

 

[misshathaway]

Purchase decisions: Is it really necessary to have the best? At some point I realized that the effort I spent researching the best, let's say tweezers, was quite a bit greater than the possible problem down the road that second-best tweezers might cause.

Life decisions seem to be always iterative. You take door A, but down the road there are problems and you have to recalibrate. I am a human Roomba.

 

[imoldernu]

Other... never thought about life in this way.
I, in this case is "we"... very rare are differences of opinion that go beyond any decision.

 

[ckelly78z]

I can't remember ever having buyer's remorse, because most of my decisions are based on knowledge, and research, not passion.

 

[brett]

Depends on the nature of the decision and the potential impact on our lives.