Does Choice Mean Freedom and Well‐Being?

@article{Markus2010DoesCM,
  title={Does Choice Mean Freedom and Well‐Being?},
  author={Hazel Rose Markus and Barry Schwartz},
  journal={Journal of Consumer Research},
  year={2010},
  volume={37},
  pages={344-355}
}
Americans live in a political, social, and historical context that values personal freedom and choice above all else, an emphasis that has been amplified by contemporary psychology. However, this article reviews research that shows that in non-Western cultures and among working-class Westerners, freedom and choice do not have the meaning or importance they do for the university-educated people who have been the subjects of almost all research on this topic. We cannot assume that choice, as… 
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230 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
9
Background Citations
93
Methods Citations
1
Results Citations
3

230 Citations

Choice, freedom, and well-being: considerations for public policy
Abstract It is commonly assumed in affluent, Western, democratic societies that by enhancing opportunities for choice, we enhance freedom and well-being, both by enabling people to get exactly what…
The Paradoxical Consequences of Choice: Often Good for the Individual, Perhaps Less So for Society?
The proliferation of products and services, together with the rise of social media, affords people the opportunity to make more choices than ever before. However, the requirement to think in terms of…
Freedom as a cross to bear: choice overload, the burdens of freedom, and the benefits of constraint
The salience of choice fuels independence: Implications for self-perception, cognition, and behavior
TLDR
The findings suggest that the salience of personal choice may drive an awareness and experience of independence even in contexts where, unlike in the United States, independence has not been the predominant ethos.
Support for the Public Good The Unanticipated Interpersonal and Societal Consequences of Choice : Victim Blaming and Reduced-Jun
Choice makes North Americans feel more in control, free, and independent, and thus has many positive consequences for individuals’ motivation and well-being. We report five studies that uncovered…
The Unanticipated Interpersonal and Societal Consequences of Choice
TLDR
This research suggests that the well-known positive effects of choice for individuals can be accompanied by an array of previously unexamined and potentially negative outcomes for other people and for society.
Life Satisfaction, Self-Determination, and Consumption Adequacy at the Bottom of the Pyramid
Concentration on consumption in material environments characterized by too much rather than too little creates important gaps in the understanding of how much of the earth's population navigates the…
Rejected, shackled, and alone: The impact of systemic restricted choice on minority consumers’ construction of self.
This research investigates the experience of systemic restricted choice and its impact on self-concept among racial and ethnic minority consumers seeking financing. Choosing loans is an involved…
Consumer Power and Access
Are consumers gaining or losing access to products and marketplace power? Chances are that each member of the marketing and public policy community has a different educated and informed answer to…
Likes, Dislikes, and the Perception of Choice as Self-Expression across Cultures
Abstract Self-expressive functions of choice, routinely found in individualistic cultures, have also been evidenced in collectivistic cultures, when choice involves culturally relevant aspects of the…
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