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satisficing
Your brain prefers a simple solution over a perfect one.
In 1956, Herbert Simon identified that people search for an option that meets a threshold rather than the mathematical maximum.
Rather than evaluating every possible choice to find the absolute best, most people stop the search as soon as they encounter a 'good enough' alternative. This strategy saves precious cognitive resources but often results in overlooking potentially superior outcomes.
You reach satisfaction before you reach excellence.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Simon, 1956, Psychological Review
- What the check found
- The 1956 Psychological Review paper 'Rational choice and the structure of the environment' correctly attributes the concept of satisficing as a departure from traditional maximization models.
- Confidence
- Well replicated
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.