Paradox of choice
Etymology
“Paradox” comes from Greek “para-” (“contrary to”) and “doxa” (“opinion”), a claim that runs against expectation. Psychologist Barry Schwartz popularized the phrase in his 2004 book “The Paradox of Choice,” synthesizing experiments in which too many options depressed both decisions and contentment.
noun phrase · /PAIR-uh-doks uhv chois/
The finding that more options can leave people less satisfied and less able to decide, rather than better off.
What it names
The counterintuitive cost of abundance — that beyond a point, added choices bring anxiety, regret, and paralysis instead of freedom.
Example
Faced with forty nearly identical jars of jam, shoppers often buy nothing at all — the paradox of choice in action.
Related idea
The paradox of choice names the dissatisfaction of too many options; analysis paralysis names the resulting inability to act, and satisficing is the coping strategy of taking the first good-enough option.