Maximizing Without Borders: Evidence That Maximizing Transcends Decision Domains

Abstract

Do maximizers maximize across decision domains? An assumption underlying the literature on maximizing is that the tendency to strive to make the best choice spans domains. The current research provides a direct test of this assumption by examining the association between trait maximizing and domain-specific maximizing, consisting of maximizing measures in a wide range of decisions (consumer goods, services and experiences, and life decisions). Study 1 tested this association at two different time points in order to minimize common method bias. Study 2 was a high-powered pre-registered cross-sectional replication. Results of both studies showed that trait maximizing was associated with higher maximizing tendencies across all three decision domains. However, in line with prior research suggesting that people generally maximize less in experiential than in material domains, trait maximizing was associated with maximizing in services and experiences significantly less than with maximizing in consumer goods or in life decisions. These results provide empirical support for a central tenet of maximizing theory and suggest useful directions for future research.

Yes! Maximizers Maximize Almost Everything: The Decision-Making Style Is Consistent in Different Decision Domains

“…This supports the initial proposition of Schwartz et al (2002) that maximizing and satisficing would be personality traits. Previous results (Misuraca et al, 2015;Kokkoris, 2019), including a recent study on decision-making in situations of uncertainty in military contexts (Shortland et al, 2020) and ours, seem to support this proposition. From a theoretical perspective, we can infer that maximizers will experience other negative emotions in each of these five decision domains investigated in this study, thus reinforcing the relation between maximization and negative emotional consequences (Luan and Li, 2017;Moyano-Díaz and Mendoza-Llanos, 2020).…”

“…Misuraca et al ( 2015 ) report that decision-making styles would be maintained in at least three areas: general or non-specific, professional and academic, and consumer. Without prejudice to the work carried out by Weaver et al ( 2015 ) on University students, we believe that the study of Kokkoris ( 2019 ) would be the first systematic attempt to directly test the hypothesis that maximizers maximize in a wide range of decision domains, overcoming the deficiencies of previous studies that explored this in a limited number of domains. It conceives maximization as a global tendency in decision making, which is reflected in various decision tasks.…”

Choice as a Meaning-Making Device for Maximizers: Evidence From Reactance to Restrictions of Choice Freedom During Lockdown

“…Maximizers are individuals who are particularly suited to subscribe to this view. As they strive to make the best choice across domains, from the most mundane to the most consequential ( Kokkoris, 2019 ), they might also be prone to consider choice as constitutive of identity. Through individual choice, they search for answers to the big existential questions in life.…”

Regulação do arrependimento por meio da redução do nível da meta: comparando Maximizadores e Satisficientes

“…É importante ressaltar que resultados recentes sugeriram que os maximizadores maximizam de forma diferente nos domínios de decisão. Especificamente, os maximizadores maximizam em serviços e experiências significativamente menos do que em bens de consumo ou decisões de vida (CARTER; GILOVICH, 2010;KOKKORIS, 2019). A presente pesquisa testou a eficácia da DGL para regular o arrependimento dos indivíduos no domínio experiencial e de bens de consumo e a capacidade dos indivíduos de regular seu arrependimento parece não diferir de acordo com o contexto.…”

“…Portanto, a questão é como os indivíduos lidam com seus arrependimentos em situações de irreversibilidade? Dadas as implicações substanciais do arrependimento para o comportamento dos consumidores, muitos esforços foram dedicados a compreender como e quando os indivíduos se arrependem (por exemplo, FEENEY et al, 2005;MEDVEC, 1995;KEDIA;HILTON, 2011;KOMIYA et al, 2013;PIERRO et al, 2008;ZEELENBERG;. Em contraste, muito menos atenção tem sido dada à prevenção e gestão do arrependimento na tomada de decisão.…”