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The Art of Choosing

3.76 of 5 stars 3.76 · rating details · 1,340 ratings · 226 reviews

Every day we make choices. Coke or Pepsi? Save or spend? Stay or go?

Whether mundane or life-altering, these choices define us and shape our lives. Sheena Iyengar asks the difficult questions about how and why we choose: Is the desire for choice innate or bound by culture? Why do we sometimes choose against our best interests? How much control do we really have over what we...more

Hardcover, 352 pages

Published March 1st 2010 by Twelve

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Feb 17, 2012 Ebrahim Abdulla rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

على مدى ما يقارب العقد من الزمان كانت شيينا إينغار - الأستاذة في جامعة كولومبيا الأمريكية- تبحث في موضوع قد يستحيل البحث فيه .. الاختيار . وما يزيد الموضوع صعوبةً هو أن شيينا ذات الأصول الهندية تنتمي لديانة السيخ المتشددة في تقاليدها وتعاليمها .. حيث تقرر الكثير من الأمور في حياة المنتمي لهذه الديانة من زواجه وحياته الخ .. مقللة من حرية الاختيار لدى الفرد

في هذا الكتاب شيينا لا تقدم إجابات جاهزة؛ فهي تحاول التغلغل في أساس الموضوع من جوانب عدة مثل : القدر في مقابل الحرية، الثقافات الإجتماعية وتأثي...more على مدى ما يقارب العقد من الزمان كانت شيينا إينغار - الأستاذة في جامعة كولومبيا الأمريكية- تبحث في موضوع قد يستحيل البحث فيه .. الاختيار . وما يزيد الموضوع صعوبةً هو أن شيينا ذات الأصول الهندية تنتمي لديانة السيخ المتشددة في تقاليدها وتعاليمها .. حيث تقرر الكثير من الأمور في حياة المنتمي لهذه الديانة من زواجه وحياته الخ .. مقللة من حرية الاختيار لدى الفرد

في هذا الكتاب شيينا لا تقدم إجابات جاهزة؛ فهي تحاول التغلغل في أساس الموضوع من جوانب عدة مثل : القدر في مقابل الحرية، الثقافات الإجتماعية وتأثيرها على الاختيار، وهل فعلاً الاختيار كلمة ترادف السعادة؟ وإلى أي مدى من الممكن أن يأثر الاختيار على سير حياتنا؟ مستعينه على ذلك بأكثر من تخصص ومجال كعلم الاجتماع, وعلم النفس، وغيرهما ...

إذا خيّر أحد منّا بين الحلوى والموت؛ فماذا سيختار؟ ( !! ) قد تبدو الإجابة سهلة على هذا السؤال، لكن ليت الحياة تسير على هذا المنوال .. فالأمور قد تبدو أكثر تعقيداً في أحيان كثيرة عندما نختار شريك حياتنا، الدراسة الخ .. ولنأخذ شريك الحياة كمثال، هل اختيارنا له ( بكامل حريتنا ) يمنحنا السعادة؟ قد يسارع الكثير منّا ( خصوصاً من يعيش في زماننا هذا، و المتأثر بالثقافة الأمريكية غالباً ) ويقول: بالطبع! وهل هناك من شك؟ من منا لا يريد أن يعيش حياة سيندريلا !؟

في هذا الصدد تطرح شيينا قصة فتاة ( لكن ليست سندريلا هذه المرة ) من أرض الواقع، هذه الفتاة عاشت في القرن الخامس عشر اختارها الإمبراطور شاه جاهان كزوجة ثالثة له، تم انتقاء الصبية( ممتاز محال ) وهي لم تتجاوز السادسة عشرة من عمرها، كان عليها أن ترافقه في حله وترحاله وحملاته العسكرية منجبة خلال تلك الفترة ثلاثة عشر ولداً .. يقال بأنه وقع في حبها من أول نظرة، وتغنّا الشعراء في مدحها كزوجة مثالية وكزواج مثالي .. وافتها المنية وهي تضع ولدها الرابع عشر وما كان من الأمبراطور إلا أن يأمر بتشيد ذكرى لزوجته التي أحبها من كل قلبه عرفاناً لها على الأوقات الجميلة التي أمضاها معها و كتتويج لقصة زواج أسطورية .. وبذلك تم بناء أحد عجائب الدنيا السبعة : تاج محل!

لكن شيينا لا تريد القول بأن الزواج الذي يتم بدون اختيار الزوجة ينتهي كهذا الزواج، لكن في النفس الوقت قد لا ينتهي مثل ما قد يتصور البعض .. كل ما تريد الوصول إليه هو أن الثقافات المختلفة تنظر لموضوع الاختيار نظرة تختلف من ثقافة إلى أخرى؛ ففي إحدى دراساتها اختارت مجموعتين من الأطفال من أصول مختلفة الأولى من اليابان والثانية من أمريكا وقدمت لهم بعض الأدوات وقالت : بأن هذا من اختيار والدتكم . ما رأته من اليابانيين كان مختلفاً عن الأمريكيين، حيث بدت علامات الرضا والطمأنينة على وجوه المجموعة الأولى التي تنتمي إلى ثقافة تعاونية اجتماعية بخلاف المجموعة الثانية التي تعتمد على التفرد و "أرض الأحلام" ! ومن هنا تقول بإن الموضوع ليس بالسهولة التي قد نظنها ..

مع ذلك تعود لتأكد بإن الاختيار غالباً ما يسبب الراحة النفسية للشخص، بل تؤكد في دراساتها بإن الاختيار ضرورة وإن توفرت لك كافة الاحتياجات، وترى هذا حتى عند الحيوانات التي قد تتمرد بحثاُ عن حريتها ( هروبها من حديقة الحيوانات ) ، لكن تحاول شيينا أن تحلل الكثير من الأمور التي تأثر على اختيارتنا كالإعلانات والتسويق، المفاعلة ( أن تُعطى الحرية في مجال مع بعض الاستثناءات .. قصة آدم -عليه السلام - كمثال ! ) التركيز في خياراتنا ( يمكنك قياس مدى تركيزك في هذا الموقع : http://www.simonslab.com/videos.html )
وغيرها .

الكتاب مليء بالأمثلة والدراسات والمواضيع الحساسة التي كان في ودّي كتابتها لولا خشية التطويل. أحسست بإن الترجمة سيئة في بعض الجوانب و في جوانب أخرى إنتابني بعض الملل من الطرح، لكن في المجمل تعتبر تجربة مميزة، إضافة إلى أن الكتاب يكاد يكون الوحيد في هذا المجال .
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Jul 14, 2012 Odai Alsaeed rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

فقدت شيينا أينغار (مؤلفة الكتاب ) بصرها في عمر الخامسة عشر وهي التي جاءت من أبوين هندوسي الأصل هاجرا الى كندا فازدوجت بذلك هويتها وإختلطت بتلك التقاليد المعتقة مع فكر الغرب ،إن لهذه المؤلفة الحائزة على الدكتوراة حس فريد تحسد عليه ،،، تقول الكاتبة في مقدمة الكتاب عندما تقينت من فقدان بصرها: لا يهم مدى استعدادنا لمواجهة أمر ما ، بل أن يكون دائما بامكاننا التغلب على الشعور بالهزيمة
تستهل كتابها الشيق بتلك الخيارات التي انتقاها من هم آثروا البقاء على قيد الحياة تحت ضغوط كوارث واجهتهم وكيف كانت هي الع...more فقدت شيينا أينغار (مؤلفة الكتاب ) بصرها في عمر الخامسة عشر وهي التي جاءت من أبوين هندوسي الأصل هاجرا الى كندا فازدوجت بذلك هويتها وإختلطت بتلك التقاليد المعتقة مع فكر الغرب ،إن لهذه المؤلفة الحائزة على الدكتوراة حس فريد تحسد عليه ،،، تقول الكاتبة في مقدمة الكتاب عندما تقينت من فقدان بصرها: لا يهم مدى استعدادنا لمواجهة أمر ما ، بل أن يكون دائما بامكاننا التغلب على الشعور بالهزيمة
تستهل كتابها الشيق بتلك الخيارات التي انتقاها من هم آثروا البقاء على قيد الحياة تحت ضغوط كوارث واجهتهم وكيف كانت هي العزيمة في انتقاء البدائل للذود بنتيجة الانتصار
ولعل ما هو جدير بالذكر أيضا أن أسرد تلك الاقتباسة التي جاءت في منتصف الكتاب حيث تقول
إن الانتقاء يفرض علينا أن نفكر بعمق عمن نكون بنظرنا وبنظر المحيطين بنا ، إن وضعنا جانبا مسألة إعتبار الذات ومثاليتها ، فقد نتمكن من ملاحظة هويتنا على أنها ديناميكية وليست شيئا قابلا غير قابل للتحول ،إن عملية النحت والصقل لذاتنا التي نمارسها عبر اعتمادنا للقرارات هي ما يحدد ماهية ذاتنا .نحن عبارة عن نحاتين وجدنا أنفسنا في صلب عملية انتقاء لا في مرحلة حصد نتائجها..... عندما نغير من طريقة تفسيرنا بهدف اعتماد مرونة أكبر وانسيابية ،،نصبح ملزمين باعتناق خيارات ذات معنى تلبي حاجاتنا نظرا إلى أوضاعنا الاجتماعية الطارئة "وهنا أقول ومن خلال هذه الكلمات كيف استفادت هذه الكاتبة على تطوير ديناميكية شخصيتها مستفيدة من هذا الإزدواج في هويتها (الثقافية والدينية والجينية...الخ)
فمن الأمور التي تحدد من خلالها خياراتنا وتؤثر في شخصيتنا العامة في فكر الحياة وإرثنا الماضي بمعتقداته الى صناعة الموضة تضامنا ووسائل الاعلام الحديث و تأثيرات كل من حولنا في فرض ذوقه سواءبطريقة مباشرة أو بغير خالقا لنا بدائل للمفاضلة وما تعتريه النفس من مقاومة للإغراء وتوابعه جاءت فصول الكتاب فأبدعت في صفحاته وتجلت في فلسفة فكره ....أنصح به
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Aug 23, 2011 Hubert rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: psychology, cambridge-book-club

Effectively written: takes the issue of choice from various perspectives, cultural, psychological, evolutionary, and business. The beginning and the final chapters were the best; the takes really takes off after she describes her Menlo Park jam experiment. In general the coolest parts of the book involved her description and distillation of important psychological experiments which involve the subject of choice.

One aspect of choice she may consider more deeply is how our morality affects decisio...more

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May 15, 2013 Books-treasureortrash rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, reviewed

Book Review: 2 Treasure Boxes

What is the science and psychology behind making choices, and why do we do what we do? The Art of Choosing looks at what drives our choices and Ms. Iyendar backs up her claims with research. She discusses freedom and control and how these affect what we choose. In Chapter one, part two Ms. Iyengar says, “When we speak of choice, what we mean is the ability to exercise control over ourselves and our environment. In order to choose, we must first perceive that control...more

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Jun 22, 2012 Mary rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: choice

Okay, so I'm probably starting out with a spoiler, but Sheela Iyengar is the person who conducted the jam study--that jam study! In books about choice, this is like being Keith Richards. For those of you unfamiliar, the jam study took place in a super-market: 20 kinds of jams on display to taste, people were less likely to buy a jam than 7 kinds of display. The magic number is 7 + or - 2, not coincidentally like how many items we can keep in our short-term memory. Iyengar, unlike some other auth...more

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Jun 08, 2012 Prashant rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: awesome-reads

Here are a few lines from the wiki profile of the author

Sheena Iyengar was born in Toronto, Canada in 1969. Her parents had emigrated there from Delhi, India.
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When Iyengar was three years old, she was diagnosed with a rare form of retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited disease of retinal degeneration. By 6th grade, Iyengar had lost the ability to read, and by 11th grade, she had lost her sight entirely and could only perceive light. Iyengar’s life had also taken another t...more

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May 12, 2011 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars

I had to read this non-fiction book quite slowly, over the course of a month, annoying friends and colleagues by citing Iyengar's studies as they attempted to choose items off a menu, though even this slow pace wasn't long enough to really make the information stick in my brain.
Iyengar presents a rather overwhelming amount of information on her enormous and fascinating topic, mostly in the form of psychology experiments about how people choose things and make decisions both trivial and life or d...more I had to read this non-fiction book quite slowly, over the course of a month, annoying friends and colleagues by citing Iyengar's studies as they attempted to choose items off a menu, though even this slow pace wasn't long enough to really make the information stick in my brain.
Iyengar presents a rather overwhelming amount of information on her enormous and fascinating topic, mostly in the form of psychology experiments about how people choose things and make decisions both trivial and life or death...these experiments on far-flung subjects are glued together by her own analysis, antecdotes, and musings. So much material was presented on so many aspects of choice that I felt its significance continually slipping from my grasp. Because of the sheer scope of the topic, and the sometimes contradictory conclusions that the studies showed, it was tricky as a non-psychologist to synthesize the material into a coherent outline. In a few instances does the book have a take-home message that was easy enough to hang on to and those bits were the most interesting to me (especially in the discussion of situations where one is presented with so many choices, for example in health care plans or retirement investments, that one gives up or procrastinates and decides not to choose at all, thereby making the worst possible choice)
Taken to its logical conclusion, "the art of choosing" starts with the selection of strawberry jam over rasperry, but expands to cover the whole act of making life decisions (or not making decisions) and inevitably lands on the eternal question of when and whether to assign life's twists and turns to chance, fate, or choice. In this way it felt like a timely book to read when every street corner in my town is plastered with Credit Suisse adverts proclaiming "Erfolg ist die Summe richtige Entscheidungen" (Success is the summation of a series of correct decisions). Iyengar points out in her own way that this is sometimes the case and sometimes not. Sometimes, for example, it can even be far better to have someone else make choices for you (chapter on doctors making difficult medical decisions and effect on guilt-grief).
The ending dips its toe into a big pool of philosophical questions...maybe she had no choice but to go there, but I find these big questions are more elegantly dealt with in fiction or straight up philosophy.
Living in a time where a huge number of choices present themselves, and a country where everyone likes to be or at least consult with an expert on every choice, and feeling occasionally overwhelmed by this, I appreciated the following sentence from the book "To begin with, we have to change our attitudes toward choice, recognizing that it is not an unconditional good. We must respect the constraints on our cognitive abilities and resources that prevent us from fully exploring complex choices, and stop blaming ourselves for not finding the very best option every time."
There is alot of worthwhile information in the book, and I highly recommend reading it despite the 3-star rating. Iyengar is a sympathetic, funny, and insightful writer and thinker. It's just that it may make your head spin a little...and bring about unwanted bouts of commentary at resteraunts.(less)

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Jan 13, 2011 Nenia Campbell rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: x-2010s, reviewed

Twelve is a publishing company devoted to publishing no more than one book a month, twelve books a year. I was first introduced to Twelve through Boomsday by Christopher Buckley (also the author of Thank You for Smoking and Supreme Courtship). Eventually, I got curious and decided to see what other books this elusive publishing company considered worthy of its time and resources and this book, The Art of Choosing, was one of them. It's been sitting on my to-read list for several months now, and...more Twelve is a publishing company devoted to publishing no more than one book a month, twelve books a year. I was first introduced to Twelve through Boomsday by Christopher Buckley (also the author of Thank You for Smoking and Supreme Courtship). Eventually, I got curious and decided to see what other books this elusive publishing company considered worthy of its time and resources and this book, The Art of Choosing, was one of them. It's been sitting on my to-read list for several months now, and I recently discovered that my college library OWNED a copy!! Well, obviously, I had no choice but to check it out.

I've read a lot of pop psychology books--in fact, I make it my business to read as many as possible because I'm nerdy like that--so you know where I'm coming from when I say that this is easily one of the best (if not the best) book in this line of books that I have ever read. Ms. Iyengar, a business professor from Columbia University (if memory serves), has a very fluid, candid style of writing. She doesn't use flowery language, but she doesn't condescend to her readers either. It's a nice balance, and one that isn't easily attained. I also liked the way she opened up the book with a personal anecdote, because I like to know who is writing to me, and where they're coming from. She is a fascinating woman, who grew up in a semi-strict Sikh background. Blind from a young age, she never outright talks about how much of a burden this must have been to her in her career (although she hints at it, from time to time), but she still manages to come off as both strong and highly competent, and her lack of sight really makes you appreciate her knack for conveying visual imagery. Hell, it's hard doing that when you CAN see.

The Art of Choosing incorporates a lot of different topics--collectivistic versus individualistic cultures, making purchases in a supermarket, knowing when to "pull the plug", and arranged versus "romantic" marriages, to name a few--but all boil down to the same thing: Choice. Does it make us happy? And if so, how much do we need? The answers to these questions are often startling, and counterintuitive. Many of us would say that yes, we DO need choice. But in a society where buying groceries could easily take an entire day, one can't help but wonder if maybe too MUCH choice is being foisted upon us, and if these choices are even particularly meaningful (I thought the ex-communist societies brought up a good point about soda being soda...are our "choices" really just illusions that mask our total lack of power?).

After reading this book, and The Paradox of Choice, I've really started to re-evaluate my own behavior, both as a social being and as a consumer. While I still seek opinions in social matters, I try not to fret over what I might have done (which is counterfactual thinking. To all you psych majors out there--holla!) and try to instead focus on what I will do in the future. I also don't fret about getting the "best deal" as much as I used to, because when you think about it, time is money. People make entire careers out of bargain shopping, and since I'm not getting paid for my efforts, I shouldn't be one of those people. To paraphrase Freud (I know...), "Sometimes a cigar really is a cigar." And sometimes, orange juice is just orange juice. And if the generic brand is a whole dollar cheaper than the Tropicana brand, what's so bad about buying it, as long as they haven't pumped it up with a bunch of high fructose corn syrup? Anyway, the moral of this review is that we spend too much time sweating the small things, and put too much emphasis on freedom of choice, when really, choice can actually be just as much of a burden (if not more) as having other people decide for you. Especially for the superficial things. So the next time your mother/SO buys your groceries for you, you should probably thank them, instead of snapping that you can "do it yourself," because chances are, they know your tastes a lot better than you do. :o)(less)

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Jan 10, 2011 Drani rated it 3 of 5 stars

As the author detailed her social experiments on choice, I kept thinking how fun it would be to do those experiments. Being a social scientist sounds like fun! There's no but -- I still wish I could spend my day thinking of ways to see how people think.

I first heard of Sheena Iyengar when I saw her TED talk. She writes very much as she speaks -- very simply, personally, and engagingly. I was initially a little put off by her personal anecdotes, thinking that they didn't address her issues so muc...more

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Aug 16, 2010 getAbstract rated it 5 of 5 stars

Thought-provoking analysis of choice

Easy choices – like cake or death, as in British comedian Eddie Izzard’s famous routine – don’t require much thought or study. But almost any other choice invites complications and confusion, a problem social psychologist Sheena Iyengar mines and turns into fascinating reading. In this study of different facets of decision making, she delves into such topics as whether your devotion to Coca-Cola relies on its taste or its ties to Santa Claus, and she touches u...more

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Jun 28, 2010 Christina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Really interesting look at all kinds of choices and how we view choice in our lives. The nursing home studies were interesting (residents given choices, even very unimportant ones, were less likely to die and happier), as were some of the others. In one, Indian arranged marriages were compared with marriages where the partners married for love. After ten years, those in arranged marriages were happier.

The main take-home message of the books is that people are very irrational when they make choic...more

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Jun 02, 2010 Dora rated it 4 of 5 stars

Part philosophy part social psychology, this book was incredibly thought-provoking. I loved reading it, even if at times I felt slightly annoyed by it.

I've always hated academic writing and I thought the colloquial, conversational tone of the book made it quite lively and relatable. In the acknowledgments she mentions how she would discuss the book topics with her child to help her write, and clearly that helped her write the book in a more accessible way.

Things that annoyed me: I didn't realiz...more Part philosophy part social psychology, this book was incredibly thought-provoking. I loved reading it, even if at times I felt slightly annoyed by it.

I've always hated academic writing and I thought the colloquial, conversational tone of the book made it quite lively and relatable. In the acknowledgments she mentions how she would discuss the book topics with her child to help her write, and clearly that helped her write the book in a more accessible way.

Things that annoyed me: I didn't realize until halfway through that she not only has an MBA (ick) but is a joint professor in psychology AND business... yuck. I realized it in the chapter on consumer choices- and immediately went to the back of the book to read her bio. I realized it during a particular part about people having the choice between $100 now and $120 in a month. She deduces that the temptation to take less money now comes entirely from our automatic response system. Totally ignorant assumption! What about the countless people for whom $100 would mean not going hungry? Not paying a bill late thereby creating late fees? And so on.

She does address this a bit in her epilogue- she talks about how it's disingenuous to pretend everyone has equal choice when there is so much inequality in the world-- but it felt like a footnote after hundreds of pages of ignoring class issues in choice. I do think this book had great potential to discuss these issues from a class perspective- which is why the chapter on different cultures and choice (collectivism vs. individualism) was so fascinating to me- but I guess that would be a different book.

Overall I felt really drawn into her research and I find myself thinking about the human decision process differently now- a sign of a good book. And this book was thought-provoking for me on a professional level as well; my biggest initiative at my job is a self-management health program-- ultimately a program about empowering older adults to make their own health decisions. The study on nursing homes in one of the earlier chapters was fascinating and I think I might look into that more in graduate school.(less)

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Mar 16, 2010 Charlotte rated it 5 of 5 stars

I absolutely loved this book. The author goes to great lengths to clarify why we make the choices we make. She looks at how we are raised helps influence how we approach decisions, how other influence us in the moment of making a choice, how we really feel about the choices we make and how even when you abstain from making a choice you are still making a choice.
I really enjoyed reading this as it was able to be both personal and informative. i hope this doesn't end up getting lumped in with "T...more

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Feb 05, 2013 Agile Kindergarten rated it 4 of 5 stars

Decision Making - what delicious fun and dreadful conundrums! Salesmen and teachers have always known - that presentation matters, but Iyengar reveals just how much and why! In this exceedingly eclectic and very readable book, Iyengar discusses the tension between our automatic and reflective mental systems when making decisions. She explores the heuristics and biases present in cultural differences and the coping skills we use to diffuse cognitive dissonance. Iyengar is most famous for the "jam...more

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Mar 26, 2012 Rajesh Israni rated it 5 of 5 stars

Birds of the same feather flock together. But, each of us as human-beings have distinct lives. What makes us different from each-other? Our Decisions! Your choices define you, your choices build your destiny and your choices affect your emotions.

Unfortunately you can not avoid choosing, since avoiding to choose itself is a choice. I appreciate that you have chosen to read my review :) and I assure that Iyengar's book "The Art of Choosing" will enlighten your knowledge on how decisions are made...more Birds of the same feather flock together. But, each of us as human-beings have distinct lives. What makes us different from each-other? Our Decisions! Your choices define you, your choices build your destiny and your choices affect your emotions.

Unfortunately you can not avoid choosing, since avoiding to choose itself is a choice. I appreciate that you have chosen to read my review :) and I assure that Iyengar's book "The Art of Choosing" will enlighten your knowledge on how decisions are made and the next time you are stuck in a dilemma you would be better-equipped to resolve it effectively and swiftly.

"Choice is essentially the only tool we have that enables us to go from who we are today to who we want to be tomorrow," says Sheena Iyengar, whose book, "The Art of Choosing," sums up over 15 years of her research on the subject.

In The Art of Choosing, Sheena Iyengar, a business professor at Columbia University and a leading expert on decision making, tells us that making sound choices is even more difficult than we think. Here you’ll learn about the complex relationship between choice and freedom, and why one doesn’t always go with the other. Iyengar wants the readers to recognize that our decisions, both the mundane and momentous, are influenced by many factors and that the more we recognize those factors, the more satisfied we will be.

Its a common knowledge now, that less choices are better than plenty. Numerous psychologists have ranted this theory in most possible ways through their books. But hardly does anyone go beyond this paradox. If less is better, than how much less? Since having NO choice is obviously more worse than plenty of choices. Iyengar's book answers this paradoxes of choice. More choice is not always better, she suggests, but neither is less. The optimal amount of choice lies somewhere in between infinity and very little, and that optimum depends on context and culture. “In practice, people can cope with larger assortments than research on our basic cognitive limitations might suggest,” Iyengar writes. “After all, visiting the cereal aisle doesn’t usually give shoppers a nervous breakdown.”

Art of choosing is an lucid work of popular science written by an accomplished academia and practitioner that deserves place alongside Malcolm Gladwell, Po Bronson and other interpreters of "why and how we do, what we do?". The major difference between Iyengar and the other gurus in this field is that Iyengar doesn't conclude the outcomes of her theories and keeps them as open ended questions, leaving the reader to ponder upon. Iyengar favors exploration over conclusions. “Isn’t this interesting?” she asks, rather than “Isn’t this awful?” or “Isn’t this useful?” She asks fascinating questions: Is the desire for choice innate or created by culture? Why do we sometimes choose against our best interests? How much control do we really have over what we choose? Take a mundane question: Do you choose to brush your teeth in the morning? Or do you just do it?

Can a habit or custom be a choice? Ultimately, she offers unexpected and profound answers, drawn from her award-winning, discipline-spanning research.

Throughout, the author explores decision-making as an art, noting that it is possible to improve on our skills by asking the right questions. Because of the books exploratory style, some readers may feel the book as in-comprehensive and would be left wanting for more solid conclusions and proven tools for decision-making, and the others like me would rather decide themselves on how to interpret the various psychological dilemmas and factors affecting decision-making shared by the author and leverage them in our daily decision-making.

“The ability to choose well is arguably the most powerful tool for controlling our environment,”. Not only are we born with the ability to choose, but also born with an apparent need to do so; nothing frustrates us as much as having no say in a matter.

Iyengar explains the complex art of decision-making in the most simplistic manner that's woven with her deep expertise, years of research, humor, and real-life examples. One warning - Even if you are a casual reader this book is quite engaging and you would be hard-pressed to keep it down. Once you enter the world of decision-making, you would be mesmerized in amazement of how we humans are influenced by factors that we never knew existed and affected our decisions.

Art of choosing, is not sermonizing, nor preachy or trying to make a point. It just shows us the mirror of who we are when it comes to making choices and do we need any gumption for it at all. Pick it and get enlightened!(less)

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Dec 09, 2011 Lee Holz rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Art of Choosing is an interesting, entertaining and useful book. It focuses heavily on the, psychology of making choices and psychological effects of being faced with and making choices. This focus is understandable because the author is a psychologist. However, she also examines the biological, sociological, economic, cultural and political aspects of choosing. The book is practical rather than philosophical in its approach and purpose. However, profound philosophical and theological premis...more

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Jun 05, 2011 Karen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Decision Making - what delicious fun and dreadful conundrums! Salesmen and teachers have always known that presentation matters, but Iyengar reveals just how much and why! In this exceedingly eclectic and very readable book, Iyengar discusses the tension between our automatic and reflective mental systems when making decisions. She explores the heuristics and biases present in cultural differences and the coping skills we use to diffuse cognitive dissonance. Iyengar is most famous for the "jam e...more

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Jun 17, 2010 Judy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, all-time-best

I don't often think: this writer is truly a genius. But Ms. Iyengar, blinded at a young age, seems to have developed extraordinary reflective abilities. (Or maybe she would have been remarkable regardless.)

This is a thoughtful book that presents and digests many formal experiments that ponder why humans choose as they do. One of the first things you learn is that how we perceive choice is actually very culturally derived. We live in a culture that values choice and assume other cultures do as we...more

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May 20, 2010 Trish rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

p265: It is tempting to promote choice as the great equalizer--after all, that's what so many dreams, including the American one, are built on. ... We should not, however, take this to mean that faith, hope, and rhetoric alone are sufficient. Like the swimming rats in Richter's experiment, we can survive for only so long without solid ground beneath our feet; if the choices aren't real, sooner or later we will go under.

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Apr 27, 2012 Moad rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: self-help, psychology

Outstanding and prolific, amazing book by an awesome author

"We do the same thing in our lives- embracing information that supports what we already prefer or vindicates choices we made. After all, it feels better to justify our opinions rather than challenge them"
-my pick of the quotes from the book

The Introduction is warm and amiable, you get to picture a little bit of the writer's life and character, events in her past which then shaped her life and including the project of this book, when you...more

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Nov 18, 2012 Kathy Nealen rated it 4 of 5 stars

I had the privilege of hearing this author speak at my company about a year ago. Her speaking style was very friendly, clear and easy to listen to and grasp her intent. I was pleased to find that her writing style was similar. In fact, I could almost hear her speaking as I read the book. The timing of my reading coincided with the announcement that Hostess was going out of business. I realized how closely my behavior was approximating some of her conclusions as I felt the need to purchase and co...more

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Mar 30, 2012 David Hallman rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is one of those rare page turning non-fiction books that is backed up by an immense amount of research, but the wonderful practical research that can engage readers of all types. Iyengar manages to clearly dissect Choice, a ubiquitous element throughout life, and examine it in a way which brings clarity and dispels many of the underlying myths concerning it.

The book moves along at great pace, leading you through the dilemmas of Choice, enlivening research with colorful stories, questionnair...more

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Feb 07, 2012 Steve Bradshaw rated it 3 of 5 stars

Insightful and easy to read. Not bad but not as good as the Paradox of Choice. Her personal discussion on arranged marriage was probably the most interesting part for me - it really opened my eyes to the other side of the argument - that romantic love fades and that familiarity breeds attraction over time (e.g. office workers and college dorm-mates often become close friends). Amazingly a survey conducted in Jaipur, found that while arranged couples started off "less in love" than for-love coupl...more

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May 13, 2010 Andrew rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book discusses some research (by the author and others) about how we make choices, and how having too many choices can lead to difficult decision making. But it's interesting that the author chooses to ignore all the existing research that contradicts the point she is trying to make.

Take for example her "jam study", where people offered 6 varieties of jam samples were much more likely to buy jam in a store than those offered 24 different samples. The author is well aware that other research...more This book discusses some research (by the author and others) about how we make choices, and how having too many choices can lead to difficult decision making. But it's interesting that the author chooses to ignore all the existing research that contradicts the point she is trying to make.

Take for example her "jam study", where people offered 6 varieties of jam samples were much more likely to buy jam in a store than those offered 24 different samples. The author is well aware that other researchers have replicated this study and found no effect. There was even a recent paper published with a meta-analysis of about 50 similar studies. They found many instances where having more options to choose from made decision making easier. But, they also found many studies with the complete opposite conclusion, and in a good number of studies there was no effect at all. The average effect over all of the studies was nearly zero. It seems to me that the interesting research question would therefore be about what conditions led to the different results of these studies (why are more options better in certain cases, while fewer options are better in others). Even if the author disagrees with those contradictory results, they should have at least been mentioned. Instead, the author specifically states on page 190, without any footnotes or references to research, that other similar studies consistently come up with the same results as the jam study. This is not true.

Another thing that bothers me about this book and this type of research is the tendency of some people to interpret these results as an argument in favor of government restriction of choices. The claim is that people will be happier if they have fewer choices, thus the government should either limit our choices directly or redistribute income so that eventually less is produced and we have fewer available options. The author doesn't explicitly advocate this interpretation, though, so I shouldn't blame her for the idiocy of others.

Though I disagreed with some of the conclusions, this was still a thought-provoking book, and I would recommend it to others.(less)

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Jul 06, 2011 Carole rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: psychology, science-medicine

I think I was originally intrigued by the cover, but I found the exploration of choice from whether we as individuals choose versus having choices made by parents or peers as it plays out in different cultures to how those factors influence our motivation and performance and the effects of a limited number of choices in shopping vs the extensive choice in our supermarkets influences behavior. I found the chapter on medical choice making particularly poignant as a physician because people become...more

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Jun 05, 2010 Jim rated it 4 of 5 stars

one of several books i've recently read dealing with the literature regarding psychology, choice, behavioral economics and happiness - its probably the best.

iyengar offers a broad overview of the concept of choice, the psychology of choice and ultimately a great deal of insight into what drives effective and ineffective choices. the primary thrust of the book demonstrated how choices can go astray, yet iyengar ultimately remains optimistic that increased knowledge of psychology will enable bette...more

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Jan 29, 2011 Greta rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Greta by: Rachel

Shelves: general-non-fiction

Who would have thought that so much energy goes into the decisions we make all the time as a matter of course? While some choices are big and others more insignificant, we're confronted with choices every step of the way. What I liked about this book was the research that went into how we choose and perhaps why we choose the things we do, despite the inclination to think we'd choose differently or for a different or better reason. At the end of the book I was left with the feeling that too much...more

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Jun 24, 2011 Monica rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: psychology-motivational, favourites

This is a readable, accessible book citing some well-known research on human and animal behaviour on how they make choices. I realise that research show that the process of making choices is fraught with paradoxes, denial and contradictions. I forgive myself!

Choices help us create the stories of our life. They are complicated, contradictory and full of cognitive dissonance and is affected by culture, gratification, timing, expectations, reverse psychology just to name a few. The great paradox is...more

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Jul 06, 2012 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars

A fabulously provocative title with some fascinatng research behind it. Iyengar may fall prey to too many colloquialisms at times (in a laudable effort at accessibility) but the crux of the book and its easily defined structure are worth returning to.

Decision making, and most importantly on many levels, its context and perception, is a core tenant of modern (especially Western) society today. Understanding your choices, processes and beliefs by questioning assumptions both cultural and ideologi...more

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Jun 12, 2011 Marie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I just worked at a Montessori school as an assistant to the teacher for the past 6 months...and if you know about Montessori it is all about choice and letting the children choose and them being movitated to learn because they want to and not because someone is telling them...there is a lot more to it...but this book about choice is very thought provoking and conversation lending...since Americans want so much choice you think that is a common universal idea...not so, many places people are happ...more

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About Sheena Iyengar

Sheena Iyengar is the S.T. Lee Professor of Business at Columbia University and a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award. She holds an undergraduate degree from the Wharton School of Business and a doctorate in social psychology from Stanford University. Her work is regularly cited in periodicals such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, Fortune and TIME.

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“What you see determines how you interpret the world, which in turn influences what you expect of the world and how you expect the story of your life to unfold.” — 11 people liked it

“A person of “good character” was one who acted in accordance with the expectations of his community” — 5 people liked it

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