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limiting choice
Why are we happy? The liberating effect of limiting choice
Can we be happy with our second choice, third choice, or no choice at all? The happiness we may find when we don't get what we want-what Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert calls synthetic happiness-will challenge our basic assumptions about the value of choice, and for some, prove to be profoundly liberating.
The paradox of choice: how it colors collective happiness
Psychologist Barry Schwartz draws a line between rising rates of depression and the explosion of choice in almost every moment of modern life. Is freedom of choice as we're experiencing it today too much of a good thing? Schwartz explains why this abundance of options is actually making us miserable.
Spaghetti sauce: A different take on choice and happiness
Food industry researcher Howard Moskowitz was in pursuit of the perfect spaghetti sauce. In explaining what Moscowitz discovered, author Malcolm Gladwell makes a light-hearted, but well-articulated case for embracing diversity and choice as a means to greater happiness.