SEtalk: Why Too Many Choices Make Us Unhappy

How long did it take you to choose your last phone?

大家上次挑手机花了多长时间？

For me, buying a pair of headphones once took three weeks.

我呢，有一次买一副耳机花了整整3周。

I'm not joking — I actually made a spreadsheet!

我没开玩笑——我真的做了一张表格！

Today, I want to explain why that happens to so many of us.

今天，我想跟大家解释一下，为什么我们很多人都会这样。

It was two in the morning, and I was still reading reviews.

当时已经凌晨2点了，我还在看评测。

There were over two hundred models, so I was spoilt for choice.

有200多款型号，我简直挑花了眼。

Whenever I found a good pair, I'd spot a better one,

每次我找到一副不错的，就会看到一副更好的，

so I'd keep on looking.

所以我就一直找下去。

By the time I finally ordered some, I'd lost all interest.

等我终于下单的时候，已经完全没兴趣了。

I'd spent three weeks choosing, and I wasn't even happy.

我花了3周时间挑选，结果一点都不开心。

It turns out I'm not alone.

原来，不只我一个人这样。

In 2000, a jam-tasting table was set up in a California supermarket.

2000年，California一家超市里摆了一张果酱试吃台。

Sometimes the table had twenty-four flavours, and sometimes just six.

有时候台上摆了24种口味，有时候只有6种。

The big table attracted more shoppers, which isn't surprising.

大的试吃台吸引了更多顾客，这并不奇怪。

But only three percent of them actually bought a jar!

但其中只有3%的人真的买了一罐！

At the small table, ten times as many people bought jam!

而在小试吃台，买果酱的人足足多了10倍！

The study suggested that too much choice can stop us from choosing.

这项研究表明，选择太多反而会让我们无从选择。

Later studies pointed out that it isn't always this strong,

后来的研究指出，这种效应并不总是这么明显，

but it keeps showing up when the choice is complicated.

但在选择很复杂的时候，它总会出现。

And what happens when we do manage to choose?

那么，当我们真的做出选择时，又会怎样呢？

Psychologist Barry Schwartz describes two kinds of people.

心理学家Barry Schwartz把人分成两种。

Maximizers are people who have to find the very best option.

最大化者就是非要找到最好选项不可的人。

Satisficers stop searching as soon as something is good enough.

满足者只要找到够好的东西，就会马上停止寻找。

A 2006 study followed students who were looking for their first job.

2006年的一项研究追踪了正在找第一份工作的学生。

The maximizers ended up with salaries about twenty percent higher.

最大化者最后拿到的薪水高了大约20%。

Yet they felt worse about the jobs they'd accepted!

可他们对自己接受的工作反而感觉更差！

They were more anxious, and they kept doubting their decision.

他们更焦虑，还总是怀疑自己的决定。

Options seem endless, so we assume the perfect one exists.

选项似乎无穷无尽，所以我们以为完美的那个一定存在。

We can't stop thinking that another choice might have been better.

我们总忍不住去想，换个选择也许会更好。

These days, I've become a proud satisficer.

如今，我已经成了一个自豪的满足者。

I choose three options, and I give myself one evening.

我只挑3个选项，给自己一个晚上的时间。

Last month, I bought a new laptop in under an hour!

上个月，我不到1小时就买了一台新笔记本电脑！

It probably isn't the best one, but I love it.

它可能不是最好的，但我很喜欢。

If you had only three options, you'd decide in minutes,

如果你们只有3个选项，几分钟就能做决定，

and you'd probably feel happier, too.

而且可能还会更快乐。

So next time you're stuck, make your list shorter.

所以下次你们拿不定主意时，就把清单缩短一点。

Good enough is often exactly what we need.

“够好就行”，往往正是我们需要的。

Thank you, and good luck with your next choice!

谢谢大家，祝你们下次选择好运！