In 2002, Harvard psychologists Daniel Gilbert and Jane Ebert designed a series of studies to test the role of optionality on happiness and human satisfaction.

In the first study, the students in a Harvard photography class were asked to make prints of their two favorite photos from the semester.

After creating the two prints, they were told to select one that they would get to keep, while the other would be filed in the department archives.

But at this stage, the students were split into two groups:

• The first group was told that the decision was final. Whichever print they selected was their print and they couldn’t change their mind.
• The second group was told that the decision was reversible. They could change their mind and swap prints in the next few days.

In the days that followed, the two groups of students were asked how satisfied they were with their selection, both during the swap window and after it had passed.

The findings were counterintuitive...

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