Maximizing (Decision Difficulty)

What it measures

The scale captures how much difficulty a person experiences when making decisions, one facet of the broader 'maximizing' tendency to seek the best possible option rather than one that's simply good enough.

Response format

7-point Likert (1=strongly disagree, 7=strongly agree)

Scale items

• I often find it difficult to shop for a gift for a friend.
• When shopping, I have a hard time finding clothing that I really love.
• Renting movies is really difficult. I'm always struggling to pick the best one.
• I find that writing is very difficult, even if it's just writing an email to a friend, because it's so hard to word things just right. I often do several drafts of even simple things.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Developed by Schwartz et al. (2002) as one of three companion subscales (alongside alternative search and high standards) measuring maximizing tendency; used here by Ross, Meloy, and Bolton (2021) with MTurk participants. Reliability was good (α = .81). Validity wasn't separately assessed by Ross et al.

Citation

Ross, G.R., Meloy, M.G., & Bolton, L.E. (2021). Disorder and Downsizing. Journal of Consumer Research, 47(6), 959–977.

Keywords