Maximization is a style of decision-making characterized by seeking the best option through an exhaustive search through alternatives. It is contrasted with
satisficing
Satisficing is a decision-making strategy or cognitive heuristic that entails searching through the available alternatives until an acceptability threshold is met. The term ''satisficing'', a portmanteau of ''satisfy'' and ''suffice'', was introduc ...
, in which individuals evaluate options until they find one that is "good enough".
Definition
The distinction between "maximizing" and "satisficing" was first made by
Herbert A. Simon
Herbert Alexander Simon (June 15, 1916 – February 9, 2001) was an American political scientist, with a Ph.D. in political science, whose work also influenced the fields of computer science, economics, and cognitive psychology. His primary ...
in 1956.
[Simon, H. A. (1955). A behavioral model of rational choice. ''Quarterly Journal of Economics, 59'', 99–118.][Simon, H. A. (1956). Rational choice and the structure of the environment. ''Psychological Review, 63''(2), 129–138.] Simon noted that although fields like economics posited maximization or "optimizing" as the rational method of making decisions, humans often lack the cognitive resources or the environmental affordances to maximize. Simon instead formulated an approach known as
bounded rationality
Bounded rationality is the idea that rationality is limited when individuals make decisions, and under these limitations, rational individuals will select a decision that is satisfactory rather than optimal.
Limitations include the difficulty of ...
, which he also referred to as satisficing. This approach was taken to be adaptive and, indeed, necessary, given our cognitive limitations. Thus, satisficing was taken to be a universal of human cognition.
Although Simon's work on bounded rationality was influential and can be seen as the origin of
behavioral economics
Behavioral economics studies the effects of psychological, cognitive, emotional, cultural and social factors on the decisions of individuals or institutions, such as how those decisions vary from those implied by classical economic theory. ...
, the distinction between maximizing and satisficing gained new life 40 years later in psychology. Schwartz, Ward, Monterosso, Lyubomirsky, White, and Lehman (2002) defined maximization as an individual difference, arguing that some people were more likely than others to engage in a comprehensive search for the best option.
[Schwartz, B., Ward, A., Monterosso, J., Lyubomirsky, S., White, K., & Lehman, D. R. (2002). Maximizing versus satisficing: Happiness is a matter of choice. ''Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83''(5), 1178–1197. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.83.5.1178] Thus, instead of conceptualizing satisficing as a universal principle of human cognitive abilities, Schwartz et al. demonstrated that some individuals were more likely than others to display this style of decision-making.
Based on the work of Schwartz et al. (2002), much of the literature on maximization has defined maximization as comprising three major components:
[Nenkov, G. Y., Morrin, M., Ward, A., Schwartz, B., & Hulland, J. (2008). A short form of the Maximization Scale: Factor structure, reliability and validity studies. ''Judgment and Decision Making, 3''(5), 371–388.]
* High standards (wanting the best option)
* Alternative search (engaging in a process of examining all the options)
* Decision difficulty (frustration with making choices)
Since these components were identified, the majority of the research on maximization has focused on which of these components are relevant (or most relevant) to the definition of maximizing. Researchers have variously argued that decision difficulty is irrelevant to defining maximizing,
[Lai, L. (2010). Maximizing without difficulty: A modified maximizing scale and its correlates. ''Judgment and Decision Making, 5''(3), 164–175.] that high standards is the only relevant component,
[Diab, D. L., Gillespie, M. A., & Highhouse, S. (2008). Are maximizers really unhappy? The measurement of maximizing tendency. ''Judgment and Decision Making, 3''(5), 364–370.] and that high standards is the only ''irrelevant'' component.
[Rim, H. Bin, Turner, B. M., Betz, N. E., & Nygren, T. E. (2011). Studies of the dimensionality, correlates, and meaning of measures of the maximizing tendency. ''Judgment and Decision Making, 6''(6), 565–579.] Many of these attempts to define maximizing have resulted in the creation of new psychological scales to measure the trait.
Recently, in a theoretical paper Cheek and Schwartz (2016) proposed a two-component model of maximization, defining maximization as the goal of choosing the best option, pursued by the strategy of searching exhaustively through alternatives.
Along similar lines, Hughes and Scholer (2017) proposed that researchers could differentiate between the goals and strategies of maximizers. However, they argued that the high standards goal is central to the definition of maximizing, but that some maximizers engage in adaptive or maladaptive strategies in order to pursue that goal. They showed that individuals with high standards could be distinguished by the use of the alternative search strategy, and that this strategy in particular predicted more negative emotions on a decision task.
[Hughes, J., & Scholer, A. A. (2017)]
When wanting the best goes right or wrong: Distinguishing between adaptive and maladaptive maximization.
''Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 43''(4), 570–583. doi:10.1177/0146167216689065
Outcomes
Initial research on maximizing showed uniformly negative outcomes associated with chronic maximizing tendencies. Such tendencies were associated with lower happiness,
self-esteem
Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth or abilities. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Mackie (2007) d ...
, and
life satisfaction
Life satisfaction is a measure of a person's well-being, assessed in terms of mood, relationship satisfaction, achieved goals, self-concepts, and self-perceived ability to cope with life. Life satisfaction involves a favorable attitude towards on ...
;
with greater depression and regret;
with lower satisfaction with choices;
[Dar-Nimrod, I., Rawn, C. D., Lehman, D. R., & Schwartz, B. (2009). The maximization paradox: The costs of seeking alternatives. ''Personality and Individual Differences, 46'', 631–635. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2009.01.007][Iyengar, S. S., Wells, R. E., & Schwartz, B. (2006). Doing better but feeling worse: Looking for the "best" job undermines satisfaction. ''Psychological Science, 17''(2), 143–150. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01677.x] with greater perfectionism;
[Chang, E. C., Lin, N. J., Herringshaw, A. J., Sanna, L. J., Fabian, C. G., Perera, M. J., & Marchenko, V. V. (2011). Understanding the link between perfectionism and adjustment in college students: Examining the role of maximizing. ''Personality and Individual Differences, 50''(7), 1074–1078. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2011.01.027] and with greater decision-making confusion, commitment anxiety, and rumination.
[Paivandy, S., Bullock, E. E., Reardon, R. C., & Kelly, F. D. (2008). The effects of decision-making style and cognitive thought patterns on negative career thoughts. ''Journal of Career Assessment, 16''(4), 474–488. doi:10.1177/1069072708318904] One study by Iyengar, Wells, and Schwartz (2006) tracked job seekers and found that although maximizers were able to find jobs with starting salaries 20% higher than satisficers, they were less satisfied with both the job search process and the job they were about to start.
Thus, although maximizers were able to find objectively better options, they ended up subjectively worse off as a result.
However, as disagreement over the definition of maximizing grew, research began to show diverging effects: some negative, some neutral, and some positive. Diab, Gillespie, and Highhouse (2008), for example, contested that maximizing actually was not related to lower life satisfaction, and was not related to indecisiveness, avoidance, or
neuroticism
In the study of psychology, neuroticism has been considered a fundamental personality trait. For example, in the Big Five approach to personality trait theory, individuals with high scores for neuroticism are more likely than average to be moody ...
.
Other studies showed maximizing to be associated with higher
self-efficacy
In psychology, self-efficacy is an individual's belief in their capacity to act in the ways necessary to reach specific goals. The concept was originally proposed by the psychologist Albert Bandura.
Self-efficacy affects every area of human endea ...
, optimism, and
intrinsic motivation
Motivation is the reason for which humans and other animals initiate, continue, or terminate a behavior at a given time. Motivational states are commonly understood as forces acting within the agent that create a disposition to engage in goal-dire ...
;
and with higher life satisfaction and positive affect.
[Purvis, A., Howell, R. T., & Iyer, R. (2011). Exploring the role of personality in the relationship between maximization and well-being. ''Personality and Individual Differences, 50''(3), 370–375. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2010.10.023]
Much of this disagreement can ultimately be ascribed to the different scales that were created to measure maximizing. But research on the three components mentioned above (high standards, alternative search, and decision difficulty) found that these components themselves predicted differing outcomes. High standards has generally shown little association with negative outcomes, and evidence of association with positive outcomes.
[Carrillat, F. A., Ladik, D. M., & Legoux, R. (2011). When the decision ball keeps rolling: An investigation of the Sisyphus effect among maximizing consumers. ''Marketing Letters, 22''(3), 283–296. doi:10.1007/s11002-010-9125-y][Weinhardt, J. M., Morse, B. J., Chimeli, J., & Fisher, J. (2012). An item response theory and factor analytic examination of two prominent maximizing tendency scales. ''Judgment and Decision Making, 7''(5), 644–658.] In contrast, alternative search and decision difficulty have shown much stronger associations with the negative outcomes listed above. Thus, the question of whether maximizing is adaptive or maladaptive may ultimately depend on which of these components one sees as essential to the definition of maximizing itself.
Related psychological constructs
Limited research exists on other psychological constructs to which maximizing is related. However, several studies have shown maximizing to be associated with
perfectionism,
[Bergman, A. J., Nyland, J. E., & Burns, L. R. (2007). Correlates with perfectionism and the utility of a dual process model. ''Personality and Individual Differences, 43''(2), 389–399. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2006.12.007] and Nenkov et al. (2008) qualified this relationship as being true primarily for the high standards component.
Some research has also linked maximizing to high
need for cognition
The need for cognition (NFC), in psychology, is a personality variable reflecting the extent to which individuals are inclined towards effortful cognitive activities.
Need for cognition has been variously defined as "a need to structure releva ...
, again primarily with the high standards component.
Finally, research examining the association between maximizing and personality dimensions of the
Big Five personality model have found high standards to be associated with high conscientiousness and decision difficulty with low conscientiousness.
[Giacopelli, N. M., Simpson, K. M., Dalal, R. S., Randolph, K. L., & Holland, S. J. (2013). Maximizing as a predictor of job satisfaction and performance: A tale of three scales. ''Judgment and Decision Making, 8''(4), 448–469.] Alternative search has also been associated with high neuroticism, and high standards has been associated with high openness to experience.
Scales used to measure
Given the disagreement over the definition of maximizing, as well as attempts to increase the
reliability
Reliability, reliable, or unreliable may refer to:
Science, technology, and mathematics Computing
* Data reliability (disambiguation), a property of some disk arrays in computer storage
* High availability
* Reliability (computer networking), a ...
of existing measures, several scales have been created to measure maximization. The list below identifies the name of the scale, as well as the components it measures:
* Maximization Scale (MS): High standards, alternative search, decision difficulty
* Maximizing Tendencies Scale (MTS): Unidimensional, but primarily correlated with high standards and alternative search
* Lai's maximizing scale: High standards and alternative search
[Lai, L. (2011). Maximizing and customer loyalty: Are maximizers less loyal? ''Judgment and Decision Making, 6''(4), 307–313.]
* Maximizing Inventory (MI): Alternative search, decision difficulty, as well as a separate subscale measuring satisficing
[Turner, B. M., Rim, H. Bin, Betz, N. E., & Nygren, T. E. (2012). The Maximization Inventory. ''Judgment and Decision Making, 7''(1), 48–60.]
* Revised MS and MTS: Same components as the original scales above
Cheek and Schwartz (2016)
reviewed the literature on the measurement of maximization and proposed that researchers interested in studying individual differences in maximization should measure two constructs: the maximization goal and the maximization strategy. They recommended that researchers use the 7-item Maximizing Tendency Scale published by Dalal et al. (2015) to measure the maximization goal. They also tentatively recommended that researchers use the alternative search subscale of the Maximization Inventory, but noted that future research should continue to refine the measurement of the maximization strategy given psychometric concerns.
See also
*
Decision-making
In psychology, decision-making (also spelled decision making and decisionmaking) is regarded as the Cognition, cognitive process resulting in the selection of a belief or a course of action among several possible alternative options. It could be ...
*
Decision theory
Decision theory (or the theory of choice; not to be confused with choice theory) is a branch of applied probability theory concerned with the theory of making decisions based on assigning probabilities to various factors and assigning numerical ...
* ''
Homo economicus
The term ''Homo economicus'', or economic man, is the portrayal of humans as agents who are consistently rational and narrowly self-interested, and who pursue their subjectively defined ends optimally. It is a word play on ''Homo sapiens'', u ...
''
*
Overchoice
Overchoice or choice overload is a cognitive impairment in which people have a difficult time making a decision when faced with many options. The term was first introduced by Alvin Toffler in his 1970 book, ''Future Shock''.Thomas W. Simon, ''Demo ...
*
Perfect is the enemy of good
Perfect is the enemy of good is an aphorism which means insistence on perfection often prevents implementation of good improvements. The Pareto principle or 80–20 rule explains this numerically. For example, it commonly takes 20% of the full tim ...
*
Principle of good enough
The principle of good enough or "good enough" principle is a rule in software and systems design. It indicates that consumers will use products that are good enough for their requirements, despite the availability of more advanced technology.
See ...
*
Rational agent
A rational agent or rational being is a person or entity that always aims to perform optimal actions based on given premises and information. A rational agent can be anything that makes decisions, typically a person, firm, machine, or software.
Th ...
*
Satisficing
Satisficing is a decision-making strategy or cognitive heuristic that entails searching through the available alternatives until an acceptability threshold is met. The term ''satisficing'', a portmanteau of ''satisfy'' and ''suffice'', was introduc ...
*
Utility maximization problem
Utility maximization was first developed by utilitarian philosophers Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. In microeconomics, the utility maximization problem is the problem consumers face: "How should I spend my money in order to maximize my u ...
References
{{Reflist
Psychological theories
Rational choice theory
Heuristics
Organizational behavior
Decision theory