Download or read book The Paradox of Choice written by Barry Schwartz and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-10-13 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Whether we're buying a pair of jeans, ordering a cup of coffee, selecting a long-distance carrier, applying to college, choosing a doctor, or setting up a 401(k), everyday decisions—both big and small—have become increasingly complex due to the overwhelming abundance of choice with which we are presented. As Americans, we assume that more choice means better options and greater satisfaction. But beware of excessive choice: choice overload can make you question the decisions you make before you even make them, it can set you up for unrealistically high expectations, and it can make you blame yourself for any and all failures. In the long run, this can lead to decision-making paralysis, anxiety, and perpetual stress. And, in a culture that tells us that there is no excuse for falling short of perfection when your options are limitless, too much choice can lead to clinical depression. In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz explains at what point choice—the hallmark of individual freedom and self-determination that we so cherish—becomes detrimental to our psychological and emotional well-being. In accessible, engaging, and anecdotal prose, Schwartz shows how the dramatic explosion in choice—from the mundane to the profound challenges of balancing career, family, and individual needs—has paradoxically become a problem instead of a solution. Schwartz also shows how our obsession with choice encourages us to seek that which makes us feel worse. By synthesizing current research in the social sciences, Schwartz makes the counter intuitive case that eliminating choices can greatly reduce the stress, anxiety, and busyness of our lives. He offers eleven practical steps on how to limit choices to a manageable number, have the discipline to focus on those that are important and ignore the rest, and ultimately derive greater satisfaction from the choices you have to make.

Download or read book Straight Choices written by Ben R. Newell and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2007-08-07 with total page 470 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We all face a perplexing array of decisions every day. Straight Choices provides an integrative account of the psychology of decision making, in which clear connections are made between empirical results and how these results can help us to understand our uncertain world. Throughout the text, there is an emphasis on the relationship between learning and decision making. The authors argue that the best way to understand how and why decisions are made is in the context of the learning and knowledge acquisition that precedes them and the feedback that follows them. The mechanisms of learning and the structure of environments in which decisions are made are carefully examined to explore the ways in which they act on our choices. From this, the authors go on to consider whether we are all constrained to fall prey to biases or whether with sufficient exposure can we find optimal decision strategies and improve our decision making. This novel approach integrates findings from the decision and learning literatures to provide a unique perspective on the psychology of decision making. It will be of interest to researchers and students in cognitive psychology, as well as researchers in economics and philosophy interested in the nature of decision making.

Download or read book Psychology Basics written by Nancy A. Piotrowski and published by Magill's Choice. This book was released on 2005 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides a source of information about important theories and issues in the field of psychology.

Download or read book Time and Decision written by George Loewenstein and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2003-02-27 with total page 584 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do people decide whether to sacrifice now for a future reward or to enjoy themselves in the present? Do the future gains of putting money in a pension fund outweigh going to Hawaii for New Year's Eve? Why does a person's self-discipline one day often give way to impulsive behavior the next? Time and Decision takes up these questions with a comprehensive collection of new research on intertemporal choice, examining how people face the problem of deciding over time. Economists approach intertemporal choice by means of a model in which people discount the value of future events at a constant rate. A vacation two years from now is worth less to most people than a vacation next week. Psychologists, on the other hand, have focused on the cognitive and emotional underpinnings of intertemporal choice. Time and Decision draws from both disciplinary approaches to provide a comprehensive picture of the various layers of choice involved. Shane Frederick, George Loewenstein, and Ted O'Donoghue introduce the volume with an overview of the research on time discounting and focus on how people actually discount the future compared to the standard economic model. Alex Kacelnik discusses the crucial role that the ability to delay gratification must have played in evolution. Walter Mischel and colleagues review classic research showing that four year olds who are able to delay gratification subsequently grow up to perform better in college than their counterparts who chose instant gratification. The book also delves into the neurobiology of patience, examining the brain structures involved in the ability to withstand an impulse. Turning to the issue of self-control, Klaus Wertenbroch examines the relationship between consumption and available resources, showing, for example, how a high credit limit can lead people to overspend. Ted O'Donoghue and Matthew Rabin show how people's awareness of their self-control problems affects their decision-making. The final section of the book examines intertemporal choice with regard to health, drug addiction, dieting, marketing, savings, and public policy. All of us make important decisions every day-many of which profoundly affect the quality of our lives. Time and Decision provides a fascinating look at the complex factors involved in how and why we make our choices, so many of them short-sighted, and helps us understand more precisely this crucial human frailty.

Download or read book The Psychology of Personnel Selection written by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2010-01-14 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This engaging and thought-provoking text introduces the main techniques, theories, research and debates in personnel selection, helping students and practitioners to identify the major predictors of job performance as well as the most suitable methods for assessing them. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic and Adrian Furnham provide a comprehensive, critical and up-to-date review of the constructs we use in assessing people – intelligence, personality, creativity, leadership and talent – and explore how these help us to predict differences in individuals' performance. Covering selection techniques such as interviews, references, biographical data, judgement tests and academic performance, The Psychology of Personnel Selection provides a lively discussion of both the theory behind the use of such techniques and the evidence for their usefulness and validity. The Psychology of Personnel Selection is essential reading for students of psychology, business studies, management and human resources, as well as for anyone involved in selection and assessment at work.

Download or read book The Psychology of Decision Making written by Lee R. Beach and published by SAGE Publications. This book was released on 2005-01-05 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Psychology of Decision Making provides an overview of decision making as it relates to management, organizational behavior issues, and research. This engaging book examines the way individuals make decisions as well as how they form judgments privately and in the context of the organization. It also discusses the interplay of group and institutional dynamics and their effects upon the decisions made within and on the behalf of organizations.

Download or read book Humanistic Contributions for Psychology 101 written by Richard Bargdill and published by University Professors Press. This book was released on 2020-06-13 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Humanistic Contributions to Psychology 101 is the first of its kind: a supplemental text cataloging the major contributions of humanistic psychology often not included in general psychology courses or textbooks. The book mirrors a standard Introduction to Psychology textbook with chapters covering the typical topics while focusing on humanistic contributions: History and Methods, Sensation and Perception, Memory, Personality, and Psychotherapy, amongst others. Endorsed by five presidents of the Society for Humanistic Psychology, this makes Humanistic Contributions to Psychology 101 an ideal supplementary textbook for introduction to psychology courses. The book is written in an easy to understand language utilizing an opening vignette or example that the chapter refers back to when a difficult concept arises. The subtitle-Growth, Choice, and Responsibility-highlights main themes of Humanistic Psychology that are seen throughout the book and particularly relevant to the contemporary times. Growth is the movement away from disease-based psychology toward a goal of psychological betterment. Choice refers to an emphasis on people making intentional decisions rather than being situationally or genetically determined respondents. Responsibility points toward the ability to take control of one's actions and own them as well as recognizing oneself as an important contributor to one's community. Humanistic Contributions for Psychology 101 is a remarkable book in terms of clarity, scope, and community building. Whether looking for an introduction to humanistic psychology or to discover how humanistic psychology has contributed to the major topics in the field, this book is an important contribution to the field.

Download or read book Rational Choice in an Uncertain World written by Reid Hastie and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2010 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the Second Edition of Rational Choice in an Uncertain World the authors compare the basic principles of rationality with actual behaviour in making decisions. They describe theories and research findings from the field of judgment and decision making in a non-technical manner, using anecdotes as a teaching device. Intended as an introductory textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, the material not only is of scholarly interest but is practical as well. The Second Edition includes: - more coverage on the role of emotions, happiness, and general well-being in decisions - a summary of the new research on the neuroscience of decision processes - more discussion of the adaptive value of (non-rational heuristics) - expansion of the graphics for decision trees, probability trees, and Venn diagrams.

Download or read book The Psychology of Menu Selection written by Kent L. Norman and published by Intellect Books. This book was released on 1991 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most pressing problems in the development of computer systems is the design of the human/computer interface. Designers often commit the error of thinking that others think and approach tasks in the same ways they do, resulting in a mismatch between what users want or expect the system to do--and what it actual does. This book addresses the application of menu selection as a mode of human/computer interaction, and emphasizes menu selection as a communication technique which allows users to control program branching in conjunction with other modes of interaction. The book examines conceptual and theoretical issues, experimental research on menu selection, and menu implementation and evaluation. Computer interfaces will undergo changes as computers themselves evolve, but the human mind will be much the same, and issues surrounding its abilities will remain. This book was written with the audience of those interested in the psychology of cognitive control in mind.

Download or read book Behavioral Decision Making written by George Wright and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-11 with total page 570 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Studies in Public Opinion written by Willem E. Saris and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Building on and reaching beyond themes in the work of Philip Converse, one of the pioneers in the study of public opinion, Studies in Public Opinion brings together a group of leading American and European social scientists to explore a number of new factors, with a particular emphasis on the structure of political choices. In twelve chapters that reflect different perspectives on how people form political opinions and how these opinions are manipulated, this book offers an unparalleled view of the state-of-the-art research on these important questions as it has developed on two continents.

Download or read book Psychological Perspectives on Financial Decision Making written by Tomasz Zaleskiewicz and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-07-21 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book reviews the latest research from psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral economics evaluating how people make financial choices in real-life circumstances. The volume is divided into three sections investigating financial decision making at the level of the brain, the level of an individual decision maker, and the level of the society, concluding with a discussion of the implications for further research. Among the topics discussed: Neural and hormonal bases of financial decision making Personality, cognitive abilities, emotions, and financial decisions Aging and financial decision making Coping methods for making financial choices under uncertainty Stock market crashes and market bubbles Psychological perspectives on borrowing, paying taxes, gambling, and charitable giving Psychological Perspectives on Financial Decision Making is a useful reference for researchers both in and outside of psychology, including decision-making experts, consumer psychologists, and behavioral economists.

Download or read book The Psychology of Judicial Decision Making written by David E. Klein and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010-02-08 with total page 355 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the years, psychologists have devoted uncountable hours to learning how human beings make judgments and decisions. As much progress as scholars have made in explaining what judges do over the past few decades, there remains a certain lack of depth to our understanding. Even where scholars can make consensual and successful predictions of a judge's behavior, they will often disagree sharply about exactly what happens in the judge's mind to generate the predicted result. This volume of essays examines the psychological processes that underlie judicial decision making.

Download or read book The Psychology of Money written by Michael Argyle and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-10-23 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This fascinating book examines such diverse and compelling subjects as: money and power, gender differences, morality and tax, the very rich, the poor, lottery and pools winners, how possessions and wealth affect self-image and esteem, why some people become misers and others gamblers, spendthrifts and tycoons, and why some people gain more pleasure from giving away money than from retaining it. Comprehensive and cross-cultural, The Psychology of Money integrates fascinating and scattered literature from many disciplines, and includes the most recent material to date. It will be of interest to psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists and to people interested in business and economics.

Download or read book Decision Making in Health Care written by Gretchen B. Chapman and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Decision Making in Health Care, first published in 2000, is a comprehensive overview of the field of medical decision making.

Download or read book Reasoning and Choice written by Paul M. Sniderman and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1991 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A major new theoretical explanation of how ordinary people decide what to favour and what to oppose politically.

Download or read book Judgment and Decision Making written by David Hardman and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2009-02-09 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Judgment and Decision Making is a refreshingly accessible text that explores the wide variety of ways people make judgments. An accessible examination of the wide variety of ways people make judgments Features up-to-date theoretical coverage, including perspectives from evolutionary psychology and neuroscience Covers dynamic decision making, everyday decision making, individual differences, group decision making, and the nature of mind and brain in relation to judgment and decision making Illustrates key concepts with boxed case studies and cartoons