Choice = Defense
The Tyranny of Choice is written by Barry Schwartz, professor of Social Theory at Swathmore College. The premise of his essay is that in contemporary society we are faced with an overabundance of choices, and that rather than leading to greater happiness, indeed for the type of person which he classifies as "maximizers", this over-abundance of choice often leads to decreased satisfaction and reduced happiness.

I want to bring the article to your attention because it speaks directly to some of the issues that I have been discussing on this site in several recent articles. But it approaches the subject from a different angle. According to Schwartz maximizers are people who always aim to make the best possible choice. When they are faced with a blizzard of such choices (as photographers are today when choosing a digital camera), they become obsessed with not making the wrong choice.

The other personality type are called "satisficers". These are people who when they find a product that meets their needs stop looking.

In some ways the personality type which I have irreverently called pixel-peepers are clearly maximizers. These are people who are obsessed with make the right choice (as if there actually is any such thing), and even when the choice is made and the purchase made worry whether they really made the right decision. Also, when they have made their choice they become very vocal in defending it. Sometimes this also involves denigrating the comparable choices that other people have made. We see this online in the form of those who "troll" the forums where other brands are discussed, and also people who act as staunch, even rabid defenders of the brands and models that they chose following their lengthy search and analysis.

Schwartz points out that there is a correlation between the amount of effort people put into their product purchase decision making and their ultimate satisfaction with that decision and the product in question. Just because they obsess over the decision doesn't necessarily mean that their satisfaction lasts longer. Indeed it is satisficers that are seen as being more satisfied with their decisions for longer, and also as generally being a happier personality type.