🎯 Claim
We say we love choice, but past a point it turns on us. When stakes rise, we stop chasing the best choice and start chasing relief from anxiety.
📑 Grounding
Leotti, Iyengar, and Ochsner (2010) argue choice feels rewarding because it signals perceived control, and losing choice feels aversive; when choosing feels costly, people cling to pre-set defaults. They link this to corticostriatal circuitry. Source: Born to choose: the origins and value of the need for control (PMC).