Satisficer

I've found a new label for myself!  As someone who thoroughly enjoys introspection and categorization, this is very exciting.

I am a satisficer.  I learned this term from Gretchen Rubin, whose book, The Happiness Project, I am currently reading (more on it later, probably).  She talks about how people tend to be either satisficers or maximizers, though the inclination can change depending on circumstances.

What is a satisficer?  Satisficers are people who make a decision or take action once their criteria is met.  By contrast, a maximizer is someone who wants to make the optimal decision.

In my words, being a satisficer means that if I'm pleased with something, I do it or buy it or accept it.  I don't bother with looking into other options or better deals.  This isn't to say that I have either low or high standards.  If I want to buy a camera under $100, I might have to wait a whole year before buying.  Or if I see cute shoes for $20, I'll buy them without going to all the other stores in the mall to see if there's a better deal.  What counts is that I choose what I want without looking at other options.

This played out in real life very recently.  When I was in the fledgling stages of deciding whether or not to move to Dallas, I went to my mentor/friend for advice.  She told me to look into other graduate schools in other states, for lower prices, for better teachers, for shorter studies.  That idea made no sense to me, and I tried to explain that I was deciding between going to Dallas or not going to Dallas.  I wasn't interested in looking elsewhere. 

My friend/mentor was equally unimpressed with my idea.  She said some things that offended me, and since then, I've wondered who was in the right.

Turns out, I was.  And she was.  For my life decisions, I am a satisficer.  Trying to become a maximizer would have only added to my stress.  For her life decisions, she can act as a maximizer.  If I told her not to sweat it and just go with the one that stuck out to her the most, she would probably also be stressed.

But it just so happens that studies show satisficers tend to be happier.  That makes sense to me.  Trying to make the absolute best decision can take up a lot of physical and mental time and energy.  And once you've made it, you might always doubt that you got the best deal.  I'm that way some of the time, but not often.

Mostly, as I look back at my life choices, I made the decisions as a satisficer.  I only ever applied to Union, and I loved it.  My post-college mission life was Senegal or nothing, and I loved living there.  I bought Tim's fancy-pants camera without looking at other options, and I love it. 

Based on my experiences and the consequences of my decisions, I'm quite pleased with being a satisficer.  But it's nice to know that there is a term for it, and that other people think the same way.  There's a tendency to look at satisficers as lazy, maybe, but I don't think that's it.  We just know what we want, and when we get it, we are pleased.  Sounds good to me.