Replication Data for: Indecision and Decision Paralysis in the Digital Age

This paper explores why having more choices often leaves us feeling worse, not better. It brings together 24 years of research to explain the psychology behind decision paralysis in the digital age — and why apps and platforms are actually designed to keep you stuck in an endless loop of browsing. The key finding: people who struggle most with uncertainty are hit hardest by the overwhelming number of choices digital platforms throw at them. And those platforms? They're deliberately built that way — infinite scroll, constant notifications, no natural stopping points — all engineered to keep you engaged, not to help you decide. The paper also introduces two relatable patterns many of us experience but rarely have names for: the tendency to endlessly delay decisions out of fear of choosing wrong, and the habit of just letting an algorithm decide for us because we're too mentally drained to choose ourselves. It closes with practical recommendations for how platforms should be redesigned, how clinicians can better support people affected by this, and what individuals can do to protect their own decision-making energy.