{"id":56723,"date":"2021-12-19T00:24:14","date_gmt":"2021-12-19T04:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=56723"},"modified":"2021-12-29T13:05:30","modified_gmt":"2021-12-29T17:05:30","slug":"freedom-to-choose-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/freedom-to-choose-2\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Freedom to Choose Affects Happiness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Why is the freedom to choose so important to human happiness? Is there such thing as too much choice?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barry Schwartz, the author of The Paradox of Choice, <\/em>asserts that the freedom to choose provides basic autonomy to humans and is necessary for happiness. However, when presented with too many options<\/a>, people can start to become anxious and depressed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading to learn why there is a fine line between the freedom of choice<\/a> and too many choices<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

How Choice Affects Happiness<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Schwartz previously discussed the contradictions of choice and happiness: Although freedom of choice is essential to autonomy and satisfaction with your life, too much <\/em>choice can create stress and dissatisfaction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this chapter, Schwartz first acknowledges the benefits of freedom of choice. Then he explores how voluntarily limiting our freedom to choose in some cases can make us happier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why We Need Choice<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Schwartz argues that freedom to choose is valuable because it provides basic autonomy, the material ability to live your life as you see fit, and the ability to present yourself to the world however you want. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schwartz cites 18th century economist Adam Smith, who posited that freedom of choice allows the market to respond to people\u2019s desires by providing things they want or need, and people then have the freedom to choose the goods that best fit their lifestyle. Schwartz also emphasizes that freedom of choice allows people to express who they are. The goods and experiences we choose shape how we show ourselves to the world. This is a form of autonomy that helps us feel satisfied in our lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: There is scientific evidence for autonomy\u2019s importance to well-being.<\/a> A report in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology <\/em>found that autonomy is the most important indicator of happiness: Those who feel control over their lives tend to be the happiest. Part of autonomy is the freedom to choose\u2014if we don\u2019t have choice in our lives, then we don\u2019t have control. Some level of freedom of choice, then, is essential to our happiness.) <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While autonomy and choice are essential to our well-being, Schwartz notes that lacking autonomy has negative psychological consequences. People who generally lack autonomy or control may succumb to learned helplessness<\/a>, <\/strong>or passive acceptance of their circumstances even when they might be able to choose change. Learned helplessness can cause physical and mental health issues, such as a suppressed immune system or severe depression. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, a constant barrage of choices can leave us feeling out of control, rather than in control. <\/strong>Schwartz argues for a balance between no choice and excessive choice. He explains how to achieve<\/a> this through our social relationships and prioritization of choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learned Optimism<\/strong>

Psychologist Martin Seligman, one of the researchers who developed the concept of learned helplessness, continued his work by exploring its opposite: learned optimism<\/a>, the idea that people can learn to become optimistic over time just as they learn to feel helpless<\/a>. 

Seligman came to view optimism as a strategy for improving your outlook on life through techniques such as viewing problems as external, temporary, and common. Viewing your problems this way can lead to a greater feeling of control over your life, in contrast to learned helplessness, in which you feel permanently out of control. <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why is the freedom to choose so important to human happiness? Is there such thing as too much choice? Barry Schwartz, the author of The Paradox of Choice, asserts that the freedom to choose provides basic autonomy to humans and is necessary for happiness. However, when presented with too many options, people can start to become anxious and depressed. Keep reading to learn why there is a fine line between the freedom of choice and too many choices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":56825,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,24],"tags":[552],"class_list":["post-56723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psychology","category-society","tag-the-paradox-of-choice","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nHow the Freedom to Choose Affects Happiness - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Barry Schwartz, the author of The Paradox of Choice, says that the freedom to choose is essential for human happiness\u2014but there's a catch.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/freedom-to-choose-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How the Freedom to Choose Affects Happiness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Barry Schwartz, the author of The Paradox of Choice, says that the freedom to choose is essential for human happiness\u2014but there's a catch.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/freedom-to-choose-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-12-19T04:24:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-12-29T17:05:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/hand-pointing.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1286\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"778\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hannah Aster\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hannah Aster\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/freedom-to-choose-2\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/freedom-to-choose-2\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Hannah Aster\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f\"},\"headline\":\"How the Freedom to Choose Affects Happiness\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-19T04:24:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-12-29T17:05:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/freedom-to-choose-2\/\"},\"wordCount\":566,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/freedom-to-choose-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/hand-pointing.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The Paradox of Choice\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Psychology\",\"Society\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/freedom-to-choose-2\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/freedom-to-choose-2\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/freedom-to-choose-2\/\",\"name\":\"How the Freedom to Choose Affects Happiness - 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