This article has been nominated to be checked for its neutrality. Discussion of this nomination can be found on the talk page. (December 2007)

Choice consists of the mental process of thinking involved with the process of judging the merits of multiple options and selecting one of them for action. Some simple examples include deciding whether to get up in the morning or go back to sleep, or selecting a given route for a journey. More complex examples (often decisions that affect what a person thinks or their core beliefs) include choosing a lifestyle, religious affiliation, or political position. Mental functions and cognitive processes are terms often used interchangeably (although not always correctly so, the term cognitive tends to have specific implications - see cognitive and cognitivism) to mean such functions or processes as perception, introspection, memory, imagination, conception, belief, reasoning, volition, and emotion--in other words, all the different... Thought or thinking is a mental process which allows beings to model the world, and so to deal with it effectively according to their goals, plans, ends and desires. ... A judgment or judgement (see spelling note below), in a legal context, is synonymous with the formal decision made by a court following a lawsuit. ...

Most people regard having choices as a good thing, though a severely limited or artificially restricted choice can lead to discomfort with choosing and possibly, an unsatisfactory outcome. In contrast, unlimited choice may lead to confusion, regret of the alternatives not taken, and indifference in an unstructured existence; and the illusion that choosing an object or a course leads necessarily to control of that object or course can cause psychological problems. {redirect|Psychological science|the journal|Psychological Science (journal)}} Not to be confused with Phycology. ...

In economics and politics

See also: rational choice theory, public choice theory, social choice theory Rational choice theory assumes human behavior is guided by instrumental reason. ... Public choice theory is a branch of economics that studies the decision-making behavior of voters, politicians and government officials from the perspective of economic theory, namely game theory and decision theory. ... Social choice theory studies how individual preferences are aggregated to form a collective preference. ...

Consumerist advocates of consumption and advertising join supporters of representative democracy to advocate free choice. Consumerist redirects here. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with consumption (economics). ... // Advert redirects here. ... Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principles of popular sovereignty by the peoples representatives. ...

In the political sphere, the constraints of a two-party system often frustrate both voters and politicians. Political parties Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A two-party system is a form of party system where two major political parties dominate voting in nearly all elections. ...

Choice-advocates often pair the virtues of choice with the responsibilities of responsibility. Note that the consequences of a personal choice may impact on other people, and any associated responsibilities may extend into a wider society. Almanac · Categories · Glossaries · Lists · Overviews · Portals · Questions · Site news · Index Art | Culture | Geography | Health | History | Mathematics | People | Philosophy | Science | Society | Technology Wikipedia is an encyclopedia written by its users in over 200 languages worldwide. ...

A political movement in the United States and United Kingdom which favors the legal availability of abortion calls itself "Pro-Choice". Issues of discussion Pro-choice describes the political and ethical view that a woman should have complete control over her fertility and pregnancy. ...

Selecting an item or action from a set of possible alternatives. Individuals must make decisions about desired goods and services because these goods and services are limited.

Choice and Evaluability in Economics

When choosing between options one must make judgments about the quality of each option's attributes. For example, if one is choosing between candidates for a job, the quality of relevant attributes such as previous work experience, college or high school GPA, and letters of recommendation will be judged for each option and the decision will likely be based on these attribute judgments. However, each attribute has a different level of evaluability, that is, the extent to which one can use information from that attribute to make a judgment.

An example of a highly evaluable attribute is SAT score. Everyone knows that an SAT score below 800 is very bad while an SAT score above 1500 is exceptional. Because the distribution of scores on this attribute is relatively well known it is a highly evaluable attribute. Compare SAT score to a poorly evaluable attribute, such as number of hours spent doing homework. Most employers would not know what 10,000 hours spent doing homework means because they have no idea of the distribution of scores of potential workers in the population on this attribute.

As a result, evaluability can cause preference reversals between joint and separate evaluations. For example, Hsee, Loewenstein, Blount & Bazerman (1999) looked at how people choose between options when they are directly compared because they are presented at the same time or when they cannot be compared because one is only given a single option. The canonical example is a hiring decision made about two candidates being hired for a programming job. Subjects in an experiment were asked to give a starting salary to two candidates, Candidate J and Candidate S. However, some viewed both candidates at the same time (joint evaluation), where as others only viewed one candidate (separate evaluation). Candidate J had experience of 70 KY programs, and a GPA of 2.5, whereas Candidate S had experience of 10 KY programs and a GPA of 3.9. The results showed that in joint evaluation both candidates received roughly the same starting salary from subjects, who apparently thought a low GPA but high experience was approximately equal to a high GPA but low experience. However, in the separate evaluation, subjects paid Candidate S, the one with the high GPA, substantially more money. The explanation for this is that KY programs is an attribute that is difficult to evaluate and thus people cannot base their judgment on this attribute in separate evaluation.

In law

The age at which children or young adults can make meaningful and considered choices poses issues for ethics and for jurisprudence. For other uses, see Ethics (disambiguation). ... For the jurisprudence of courts, see Case law. ...

In psychology

Main article: choice theory The term choice theory is closely associated with the work of Dr. William Glasser, MD, author of the book so named, and is the culmination of some 50 years of theory and practice in psychology and counseling. ...

In New Zealand slang

Choice is also used as a word in New Zealand slang to describe something, or a situation as being good. It may have originated from the Victorian English used in colonial times, where the word choice was used formally to describe a higher quality of traded product. As modern slang, it became popular in the 1980's and is still in use today.

Examples of usage as slang.

• "I think that song is really choice"
• Question: "What do you think of that song" Answer: "Choice"

See also

• Hobson's choice
• List of thinking-related topics
• will (philosophy)

For other uses, see Hobsons choice (disambiguation). ... // For the racing driver, see Will Power. ...

References

• Barry Schwartz (2005). The Paradox of Choice: why more is less. Harper Perennial. ISBN 978-0060005696. 

• Rosenthal, Edward C. (2006). The Era of Choice: The Ability to Choose and Its Transformation of Contemporary Life. The MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-68165-X. 

• Lev Virine & Michael Trumper (2007). Project Decisions: The Art and Science. Management Concepts. ISBN 978-1567262179. 

• Daniel Kahneman (Editor), Amos Tversky (Editor) (1999). Choices, Values, and Frames. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521627498. 

• Hsee, C.K., Loewenstein, G.F., Blount, S., Bazerman, M.H. (1999). Preference reversals between joint and separate evaluations of option: A review and theoretical analysis. Psychological Bulletin 125(5), 576-590.