Are you a satisficer or a maximizer?

[Runningmom80]

I voted for the wrong one, it's early here. :)

 

 

I'm a satisifier. But sometimes I do regret what I bought because I didn't think it through. I.e. all of last year's curricula. Lol

[Heather in Neverland]

I'm a satisficer. Not because I settle for "good enough" but because I know what I like and when I see something good, I go with it. I rarely regret choices.

 

This is me exactly. I make choices quickly. I generally know what I want and even when I don't, I'm willing to take a risk. I'm too impatient to over-analyze everything.

[Chelle in MO]

If you are a maximizer, are you also a perfectionist? I am definitely neither--"good enough" is my mantra, so sign me up for the satisficer side. DH, on the other hand, takes a great deal of time to research anything that he purchases and sometimes won't make a purchase at all because in his opinion there ISN'T one "good enough." He's also a perfectionist, so I'm wondering if these two traits generally go hand in hand . . .

 

 

I was wondering this same thing as I read through the thread. It seems to me that the maximizers would be more left-brained (perfectionists) and the satisficers would tend to be more right-brained (easy-going).

 

That's simplifying it a lot, but it's a fascinating topic! Personalities are so intricate.

[Guest]

Maximizer, but am I the only one bothered by the word satisficer? It's making me bonkers!

 

I didn't like that word at first, either, but then I discovered that "satisfice" is a word. It isn't made-up, which is what I thought when I first read it. It is defined like this:

a portmanteau of satisfy and suffice,^[1] is a decision-makingstrategy that attempts to meet an acceptability threshold. This iscontrasted with optimal decision-making, an approach that specifically attempts to find the best option available. A satisficing strategy may often be (near) optimal if the costs of the decision-making process itself, such as the cost of obtaining complete information, are considered in the outcome calculation.

The word satisfice was given its current meaning by Herbert A. Simonin 1956,^[2] although the idea "was first posited in Administrative Behavior, published in 1947."^[3][4]

 

Well, technically it is made up, but it wasn't made up by the guy who wrote this book.

 

Quill, the book definitely sounds interesting. I'd kind of like to get it but I don't know... I'll need to read the reviews first, and maybe see if there's anything out there that might be a better option... or if that's what I'd even really LIKE to read about right now, because you know, there are a lot of things I could be reading... :leaving: :rofl: Yeah, I'm a bit of a maximizer. :D

 

:laugh: You're singing my song...

 

 

If you are a maximizer, are you also a perfectionist? I am definitely neither--"good enough" is my mantra, so sign me up for the satisficer side. DH, on the other hand, takes a great deal of time to research anything that he purchases and sometimes won't make a purchase at all because in his opinion there ISN'T one "good enough." He's also a perfectionist, so I'm wondering if these two traits generally go hand in hand . . .

 

The book talks about this also. There is a correlation, but you can be one without being the other. He describes it something like, "A perfectionist wants the best decision, but knows they may not get it; a maximizer wants the best decision and expects to get it." He even says something that echos what a PP up-thread said; that a maximizer will often think their well-researched and analyzed choice truly could not possibly be better - that nobody could possibly come up with a better option.

 

I am a maximizer and a perfectionist and, as such, I do "suffer" the downside of both characteristics. It is funny, though, because even as I am reading about all the downsides to these characteristics, I internally defend the wisdom of being both. I have many stories of times when my purchasing inertia paid off and I have many stories of rushed decisions that panned out just as badly as I feared. One of my SILs is a total satisficer and also a tremendous spendthrift; she is the anti-frugal. :laugh: Her purchases often annoy me, even though it is NONE of my business and does not affect me one iota. :leaving: (Don't misunderstand - she is my friend and I love her. But we have polar opposite money styles.)

[cathmom]

Dh and I are laughing over this thread...he is a maximizer and his mom is the queen of the maximizers! But in my dh's case, I think our low income over the years exacerbated his tendency, because he didn't want to waste the little money he had. If something didn't work well he couldn't just replace it. If he didn't enjoy a restaurant meal, he wouldn't get another for months, KWIM?

[HomeschoolMamaOfTwo]

Ahhh so this explains the difference between DH and I perfectly when it comes to choices. He is very much a satisficer and I am very much a maximizer.

[Barb_]

If you are a maximizer, are you also a perfectionist? I am definitely neither--"good enough" is my mantra, so sign me up for the satisficer side. DH, on the other hand, takes a great deal of time to research anything that he purchases and sometimes won't make a purchase at all because in his opinion there ISN'T one "good enough." He's also a perfectionist, so I'm wondering if these two traits generally go hand in hand . . .

 

Not here. I thinks it's more like a game for me. totally not a perfectionist.

[cathmom]

I just finished reading this book. I had requested it when I read this thread and finally got it Tuesday.

 

I said my mil was the queen of the maximizers and it is true! This book explained her so thoroughly, it's scary. But she's not just this way about purchases or decisions, it's everything. I watched her do laundry once. It took forever! Everything had to be perfect. I throw it in the washer and hang it up and I'm done. I didn't realize regret was so closely related either! She regrets many, many things and talks about them a lot. She even regrets decisions her father made when she was a child! (Ie, not being partners with Hertz when he started his car rental business, selling houses, etc) She constantly compares herself and what she has to others, especially her doctor brother. She will go from store to store to find organic bananas that are not from a specific country. The sad thing is that she and her dh are getting older and they wear themselves out doing all these things.

 

I am so tempted to give her a copy of this book.

[TammyS]

I think for me it depends on how important the issue is to me. When it comes to choosing curriculum or spending money, I tend to be a maximizer. For other things, not so much.

 

A stupid story:

 

Last Thanksgiving, I decided I'd had enough of my very unsatisfactory roasting pan and tossed it, thus forcing me to buy a new on this Thanksgiving. So, this Thanksgiving rolls around and I start searching for a roasting pan. This is the sort of stupid mission that brings out all of my maximizer qualities, because it's important to me on a number of levels: 1. money spent 2. quality kitchen tools are important to me and 3. space (a roasting pan is a big thing and my house isn't).

 

To make matters worse, there are a couple of variables involved: handles that fold down make for easier storage, but maybe for a less stable grip....roasting rack (foldable, with moving parts? usable for other things, therefore not the dreaded unitasker?).....

 

And then, then I discovered electric roasting pans. In theory, this should be useful. I can cook other stuff in the oven while the turkey roasts. Maybe I can replace my crockpot (which I hate anyway)? Maybe I can figure out a way to make large batches of things? But it's so big and what if I don't like it?!

 

I got soooooooooo wound up trying to decide between a regular roasting pan and an electric roaster, I ended up getting neither. I just ordered a precooked Thanksgiving dinner from Food Lion (which turned out to be awful, but that's another story).

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I'm a complete satisficer. Maximizers drive me nutty! Just make a decision, gosh darn it!!! :laugh:

[Chris in VA]

Sometimes I am paralyzed by too much research and too much choice.

 

I've shared this before, but my dear friend, Robin, once said something like, "You can have the peanut butter sandwich or the turkey. If you pick the pb, you can not have the turkey. BUT YOU'VE STILL GOT AN AMAZING PB!"

 

Letting go of "I need all my criteria met to be happy" is quite freeing. Esp when your criteria keeps changing. lol...

[Trilliums]

 

 

I got soooooooooo wound up trying to decide between a regular roasting pan and an electric roaster, I ended up getting neither. I just ordered a precooked Thanksgiving dinner from Food Lion (which turned out to be awful, but that's another story).

 

 

Oh my! This gave me a real laugh. I have maximizer tendencies and this was just such a funny story!

[Murmer]

Maximizer for sure!!!

 

One of the most obvious examples is that we are infertile and have adopted 2 times. At this time we are not pursuing growing our family although we would like to in the future. But even still I know everything there is to know about current adoption processes including many different international policies (both our kids were domestic and we really aren't interested in international lol). I also know about current reproductive technology including embryo donation/adoption, donor gamete ect. Again we don't seem to be headed in that direction but I HAVE to know about it so that when/if we decide to add to our family I feel like I have to have all the possible pathways so I can make the right choice. lol

[TheReader]

Pretty sure I'm a satisficer, and DH is very much (hugely) a maximizer. At Christmas time he shops for the best deal, always. To the point of watching the sales afterwards, and if he finds a better price later (say, $5 or more difference...) he'll return the first and buy the second, just to get the better deal. And he researches big purchases like crazy. Me, good enough is good enough. I'm not going to put that much energy into finding THE BEST every.single.time.

[Carol in Cal.]

I tend to be a maximizer, and I tend to be a clutter bug. I think that the two are related. In each case, there is something of value that is completely ignored. In the case of a maximizer, it is time and emotional energy. The time and emotional energy needed to maximize a purchase are completely ignored, as if they are not valuable and/or have no cost in and of themselves. In the case of the clutter bug ish ness, the value of empty or simply full but not cluttered space is completely ignored.

 

I'm gradually changing both tendencies, and it is mostly by recognizing the previously ignored value. Looking at three more stores for a better deal on shoes simply is not worth my time. I will buy these now. Having some space in my bedroom that is not covered with books is simply a pleasure. So I will donate that pile over there and think twice before buying more. It works like that.

[Lady Florida.]

Maximizers need to believe they are making the best available choice and will hesitate or experience buyers' remorse often, especially if they had to choose quickly and without adequate research. Satisficers may, in fact, have a lot of criteria as well (they could still be selective), but once they discover the item that matches all or most of their criteria, they can comfortably choose that item without wondering about unknown possibilities.

 

 

 

i'd have to read the book to say for certain. but based on your description, i'd say i'm a satisficer. once i have made a decision, i no longer worry about the the "what if" possibilities. i don't daydream about what could have been. now as far as moving, traveling, doing, or experiencing something, i'm an achiever. if i want to learn something, go somewhere, own something, see something, etc. i make a plan to attain it...and then i set out to do it, never worrying if i missed a better plan. :)

 

 

I'm a satisficer. Not because I settle for "good enough" but because I know what I like and when I see something good, I go with it. I rarely regret choices.

 

I haven't read the book either, but would have to say I'm a satisficer. Nothing in the description indicates that satificers settle for "good enough", so I didn't vote. I research, compare prices, then make a decision. I'm comfortable with my decisions and rarely look back (My current vacuum cleaner is the exception - I hate it and am sorry for the decision to buy it).

 

Here's a story: Just a few days before I read about this maximizer/satisficer thing, I was looking in the Kindle Store. There is a book called The Nothing that Is and it is a book about the history of the number zero. I have looked at, but not downloaded that book no less than 3 previous times over at least the past year, maybe longer. This most recent time, I was reading the reviews. Some mentioned that there is another book about zero, Zero: The Beginning of a Dangerous Idea. So, now I'm stuck. This one might be better. I read reviews for both for about 20 minutes, weighing the different comments about each book. I finally realized how crazy I was being about this one dang book! You would think I was laboring about whether to deploy nuclear warfare. I dl'd the first book, on the "snap" criteria that I heard of that one first, so it's probably fine. :bored:

 

Do you take advantage of the sample feature? I often download the sample if I can't decide whether or not I want a particular Kindle book.

 

Maximizer, but am I the only one bothered by the word satisficer? It's making me bonkers!

 

It's making me crazy too, though I did read further in the thread and I see that it's a real word. Real word or not, it still makes me cringe.

[Stacia]

i'd have to read the book to say for certain. but based on your description, i'd say i'm a satisficer. once i have made a decision, i no longer worry about the the "what if" possibilities. i don't daydream about what could have been. now as far as moving, traveling, doing, or experiencing something, i'm an achiever. if i want to learn something, go somewhere, own something, see something, etc. i make a plan to attain it...and then i set out to do it, never worrying if i missed a better plan. :)

 

I'm a satisficer. Not because I settle for "good enough" but because I know what I like and when I see something good, I go with it. I rarely regret choices.

 

 

Yep & yep. These describe me. I'm happier once the decision is made.

[mamakven]

Oh my gosh I am a maximizer all the way! To a fault! LOL thanks for the book recommendation I will totally read it.

[tex-bex]

 

 

 

Complete maximizer. But to a fault. Even with the research and such. Still. Can't. Move. Asks for help. Then argues. Always. With the opinion that was solicited!

 

This is me. I even wear myself out with it! I'm aware of it, but can't stop! I try not to annoy other people with my issues, though, which only stresses me more. :p

 

I'm going to have to get that book! Is there a book to help recover from being a Maximizer? I find myself questioning decisions YEARS later. Sometimes being a Maximizer is a positive and at other times it can be exhausting.

 

Elise in NC

I'd like to enter Maximizer Recovery, as well! :D

 

If you are a maximizer, are you also a perfectionist? I am definitely neither--"good enough" is my mantra, so sign me up for the satisficer side. DH, on the other hand, takes a great deal of time to research anything that he purchases and sometimes won't make a purchase at all because in his opinion there ISN'T one "good enough." He's also a perfectionist, so I'm wondering if these two traits generally go hand in hand . . .

Complete perfectionist here. I can't stand to do less than my best. I'd rather not do it at all. I wear myself down with my high self expectations. Ugh.

[Guest]

I tend to be a maximizer, and I tend to be a clutter bug. I think that the two are related. In each case, there is something of value that is completely ignored. In the case of a maximizer, it is time and emotional energy. The time and emotional energy needed to maximize a purchase are completely ignored, as if they are not valuable and/or have no cost in and of themselves. In the case of the clutter bug ish ness, the value of empty or simply full but not cluttered space is completely ignored.

 

I'm gradually changing both tendencies, and it is mostly by recognizing the previously ignored value. Looking at three more stores for a better deal on shoes simply is not worth my time. I will buy these now. Having some space in my bedroom that is not covered with books is simply a pleasure. So I will donate that pile over there and think twice before buying more. It works like that.

 

 

 

This is the recommendation that the author ultimately makes for maximizers - to realize that there's a point where selecting is smarter than more research and more possibilities.

 

I think you've drawn an astute conclusion. When I'm struggling with a decluttering dilemma, it is virtually always because I imagine better alternatives than the one that is more probable. So - I can't get rid of this collectible figurine, even though I am not particularly attached to it, because I imagine the superior decision would be to attempt to sell it, rather than give or throw it away. But selling it is a pain in the butt; I'm not set up to do so and I don't wish to go through the effort.

[Sun]

I was sure I was going to be a maximizer, but it turns out I'm actually a satisficer. I feel a big need to make the right decision when buying something, but I guess I'm a satisficer since once I've decided, I don't look back! Once I've made my decision, everything else is dead to me, and I stop worrying about it.

[tex-bex]

 

 

 

This is the recommendation that the author ultimately makes for maximizers - to realize that there's a point where selecting is smarter than more research and more possibilities.

 

I think you've drawn an astute conclusion. When I'm struggling with a decluttering dilemma, it is virtually always because I imagine better alternatives than the one that is more probable. So - I can't get rid of this collectible figurine, even though I am not particularly attached to it, because I imagine the superior decision would be to attempt to sell it, rather than give or throw it away. But selling it is a pain in the butt; I'm not set up to do so and I don't wish to go through the effort.

 

Yes. This, exactly!

[AKshanmar]

Wow... really interesting. While my dh and I have completely different temperments, we are both completely satisficers. He is very, very quick to make choices. I actually refrain from making choices, because, he will, and it doesn't really matter.

 

Here are some examples:

 

We dated a bit in highschool, when we were 15 &16 (for 2 months, 300 miles apart, so not real in depth). When I moved to the same town, we started to date again at the grand ages of 20 & 21, a week later, he got down on his knee, and I said "yes".

 

He decided we should own horses. We knew NOTHING about horses. 3 days later, I was the proud owner of 3 horses. 2 years later, when I had a newborn, 1 yo & 2yo, we concluded we shouldn't own horses anymore!

 

We decided to go on a 4 month RV trip one day, bought a motorhome (it was like the 5th one we looked at, the rest didn't even have enough beds for 6 people) the next day, and left 2 weeks later. That was the beginning of our homeschool career.

 

We both like to research things extensively, but that is for the sake of researching, not for tools to make the choice. Usually we have already committed.

[LivingHope]

Well, it is interesting to see how much of a minimalist I am with most things like clothes (l only have three pairs of shoes...running shoes, hiking boots, and sandals...exactly what I need), home items (one set of sheets per bed), technology (just a simple prepaid emergency cell phone)...and yet I have six different algebra 1 texts. Something about the choices in homeschool curricula throws me into a tailspin. But I must be getting better because I only have one geometry text. Thanks for bringing this maximizer tendency to my attention.

[MolleenCarie]

At first, I voted maximizer. As I read the thread, I changed my vote to a mix and back again twice. I must be a maximizer. I can't even stick w a vote on the board!

 

 

[PrincessMommy]

Ahhh so this explains the difference between DH and I perfectly when it comes to choices. He is very much a satisficer and I am very much a maximizer.

 

 

 

this is my dh and I as well. I totally worry about a purchase or decision. I always thought it was because I was a cheapskate.

[Guest]

Do you take advantage of the sample feature? I often download the sample if I can't decide whether or not I want a particular Kindle book.

 

I don't. I've only chosen a sample one time. I can't even explain why I don't want a sample - perhaps it just doesn't seem like that will help me decide. :bored:

[bodiesmom]

I haven't read through the entire thread yet...but does the fact that I can't answer the question until I research it thoroughly mean anything? ;-)

D

[KrissiK]

I am the first one, definitely. I try to make the most informed decision I can, but then I just do it, go with it and don't (or try not to) look back. Dh, otoh, is the second one. Drives me nuts.

[Julie Smith]

nono, the very first wedding dress i i tried on, i purchased it, lol. it met my criteria. i was done!

 

That was me. But fist my mom and SIL made me shop for quite awhile. My requirements for my wedding dress was fit, and be a good price. As a matter of fact I put on 5 pounds so it would fit me proper. Much easier than having it taken in.

 

....

 

I can go into a store, buy almost anything and be out again in minutes. It only took ten minutes to pick out my engagement ring, size it, and pay for it.

 

The extra good thing is my mom likes to shop and knows how not picky I am. So she buys almost everything we need bought (other than grocoies) every so often she will just ask for X amount of money to cover it all. (she loves shopping second hand and going to actions so price is always good)

[elfgivas]

i'm going to have to read the book to figure it out. i voted "satisficer" though, because i think that is closest.

 

it takes us about 48 hours to decide just about anything. but in that 48 hours, we research like crazy people, having come up with a list of criteria that are not negotiable, and then some that are desirable, but we could live without.

 

eg. for our cars: automatic, great gas mileage, airconditioning, seats at least 4, good safety rating. then we short list. then we test drive. that is in the first eight hours. then we email dealers, get quotes, choose, and buy. the shortest time was 24 hours, the longest 3 days (i think).

 

but then we don't "what if" at all. no time, and no energy. we do evaluate after about 6 months to see how we did, and to refine the process.

 

ie. we make the best decision we can at the time, but there is a time limit, and then we let everything else go.

 

fwiw,

ann

[LucyStoner]

I'm going to defend maximizing by assuming Edison was a maximizer. :001_tt2:

 

Nikola Tesla might beg to differ. :laugh:

[LucyStoner]

I have much, much, much more important stuff to do than to fret about past decisions, large and small.