A psychological phenomenon where an abundance of options leads to more anxiety, less action and decreased satisfaction. Common sense suggests that more choices gives more freedom and is then better, but that is only true to a certain point, whereafter the relationship inverses, actually making you feel worse. Barry Schwartz, who popularized the idea in 'The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less', identified four reasons for this effect: 1. Analysis paralysis: The [[Cognitive load theory|cognitive load]] required to evaluate all the options and decide makes the decision overwhelming. 2. [[Opportunity cost]]: When you say yes to one option, you are saying no to all the others. This can feel like a loss. 3. Escalating expectations: The more options, the more you expect there to be a "perfect" choice which makes you less likely to be pleasantly surprised. 4. Self-blame: With more options, you can more blame yourself for picking badly, so the blame goes from the offerer of options to yourself.