Decision Making and Happiness – IELTS Reading Answers

Since IELTS Reading is considered the second easiest module of the exam after Listening, try to solve and review Decision Making and Happiness Reading and similar passages to ensure that your reading skills are up to the mark.

The Academic passage, Decision Making and Happiness is a reading passage that appeared in an IELTS Test. Since questions get repeated in the IELTS exam, these passages are ideal for practice. If you want more practice, try taking an IELTS reading practice test.

The question types found in the Decision Making and Happiness passage are:

• Matching Features (Q. 1-4)
• True/False/Not Given (Q. 5-10)
• Multiple-choice questions (Q. 11-13)

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Reading Passage

Decision Making and Happiness

A Americans today choose among more options in more parts of life than has ever been pos­sible before. To an extent, the opportunity to choose enhances our lives. It is only logical to think that if some choices are good, more is better; people who care about having infinite options will benefit from them, and those who do not can always just ignore the 273 versions of cereal they have never tried. Yet recent research strongly suggests that, psychologically, this assumption is wrong, with 5% lower percentage announcing they are happy. Although some choices are undoubtedly better than none, more is not always better than less.

B Recent research offers insight into why many people end up unhappy rather than pleased when their options expand. We began by making a distinction between “maximizers” (those who always aim to make the best possible choice) and “satisficers” (those who aim for “good enough,” whether or not better selections might be out there).

C In particular, we composed a set of statements—the Maximization Scale—to diagnose peo­ple’s propensity to maximize. Then we had several thousand people rate themselves from 1 to 7 (from “completely disagree” to “completely agree”) on such statements as “I never settle for second best.” We also evaluated their sense of satisfaction with their decisions. We did not define a sharp cutoff to separate maximizers from satisficers, but in general, we think of individuals whose average scores are higher than 4 (the scale’s midpoint) as maxi- misers and those whose scores are lower than the midpoint as satisficers. People who score highest on the test—the greatest maximizers—engage in more product comparisons than the lowest scorers, both before and after they make purchasing decisions, and they take longer to decide what to buy. When satisficers find an item that meets their standards, they stop looking. But maximizers exert enormous effort reading labels, checking out consumer magazines and trying new products. They also spend more time comparing their purchas­ing decisions with those of others.

D We found that the greatest maximizers are the least happy with the fruits of their efforts. When they compare themselves with others, they get little pleasure from finding out that they did better and substantial dissatisfaction from finding out that they did worse. They are more prone to experiencing regret after a purchase, and if their acquisition disappoints them, their sense of well-being takes longer to recover. They also tend to brood or ruminate more than satisficers do.

E Does it follow that maximizers are less happy in general than satisficers? We tested this by having people fill out a variety of questionnaires known to be reliable indicators of well­being. As might be expected, individuals with high maximization scores experienced less satisfaction with life and were less happy, less optimistic and more depressed than people with low maximization scores. Indeed, those with extreme maximization ratings had depression scores that placed them in the borderline of clinical range.

F Several factors explain why more choice is not always better than less, especially for maxi­misers. High among these are “opportunity costs.” The quality of any given option cannot be assessed in isolation from its alternatives. One of the “costs” of making a selection is losing the opportunities that a different option would have afforded. Thus, an opportunity cost of vacationing on the beach in Cape Cod might be missing the fabulous restaurants in the Napa Valley. Early Decision Making Research by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky showed that people respond much more strongly to losses than gains. If we assume that opportunity costs reduce the overall desirability of the most preferred choice, then the more alternatives there are, the deeper our sense of loss will be and the less satisfaction we will derive from our ultimate decision.

G The problem of opportunity costs will be better for a satisficer. The latter’s “good enough” philosophy can survive thoughts about opportunity costs. In addition, the “good enough” standard leads to much less searching and inspection of alternatives than the maximizer’s “best” standard. With fewer choices under consideration, a person will have fewer opportu­nity costs to subtract.

H Just as people feel sorrow about the opportunities they have forgone, they may also suffer regret about the option they settled on. My colleagues and I devised a scale to measure proneness to feeling regret, and we found that people with high sensitivity to regret are less happy, less satisfied with life, less optimistic and more depressed than those with low sensitivity. Not surprisingly, we also found that people with high regret sensitivity tend to be maximizers. Indeed, we think that worry over future regret is a major reason that individuals become maximizers. The only way to be sure you will not regret a decision is by making the best possible one. Unfortunately, the more options you have and the more opportunity costs you incur, the more likely you are to experience regret.

I In a classic demonstration of the power of sunk costs, people were offered season subscrip­tions to a local theatre company. Some were offered the tickets at full price and others at a discount. Then the researchers simply kept track of how often the ticket purchasers actu­ally attended the plays over the course of the season. Full-price payers were more likely to show up at performances than discount payers. The reason for this, the investigators argued, was that the full-price payers would experience more regret if they did not use the tickets because not using the more costly tickets would constitute a bigger loss. To increase sense of happiness, we can decide to restrict our options when the decision is not crucial. For example, make a rule to visit no more than two stores when shopping for clothing.

Questions 1-4

A “maximizers”

B “satisficers”

C neither “maximizers” nor “satisficers”

D both “maximizers” and “satisficers”

1 rated to the Maximization Scale of making choice

2 don’t take much time before making a decision

3 are likely to regret about the choice in the future

4 choose the highest price in the range of purchase

Questions 5-8

5 In today’s world, since society is becoming wealthier, people are happier.

6 In society, there are more maximisers than satisficers.

7 People tend to react more to losses than gains.

8 Females and males acted differently in the study of choice-making.

Questions 9-12

9 The Maximization Scale is aimed to

A know the happiness when they have more choices.

B measure how people are likely to feel after making choices.

C help people make better choices.

D reduce the time of purchasing.

10 According to the text, what is the result of more choices?

A People can make choices more easily

B Maximizers are happier to make choices.

C Satisficers are quicker to make wise choices.

D People have more tendency to experience regret.

11 The example of a theatre ticket is to suggest that

A they prefer to use more money when buying tickets.

B they don’t like to spend more money on theatre.

C higher-priced things would induce more regret if not used properly

D full-price payers are real theatre lovers.

12 How to increase happiness when making a better choice?

A use less time

B make more comparisons

C buy more expensive products

D limit the number of choices in certain situations

Decision Making and Happiness Reading Answers With Location and Explanation 

Read further for the explanation part of the reading answer.

1 Answer: D

Question type: Matching Features

Answer Location: Paragraph C

Answer explanation: “D” (both “maximizers” and “satisficers”). In paragraph C, the Maximization Scale is described as a tool used to diagnose people’s propensity to maximize. This scale is used to determine whether individuals are maximizers or satisficers, so it applies to both groups.

2 Answer: B

Question type: Matching Features

Answer Location: Paragraph G

Answer explanation: Although this information is not explicitly stated in the passage, it can be inferred from paragraph G, which contrasts the behaviour of maximizers (who take more time) with satisficers. Satisficers are more likely to make quicker decisions. Hence the answer is B.

3 Answer: A

Question type: Matching Features

Answer Location: Paragraph H

Answer explanation: “A” (“maximizers”). This information is found in paragraph H, which discusses the sensitivity to regret and how maximizers are more prone to experiencing regret after making choices. Hence the answer is A.

4 Answer: C

Question type: Matching Features

Answer Location: Paragraph G

Answer explanation: The passage does not explicitly state that either maximizers or satisficers consistently choose the highest price. Maximizers aim for the best possible choice, which doesn’t necessarily mean the highest price, and satisficers aim for “good enough,” which may not involve choosing the highest price. Hence the answer is C.

5 Answer: False

Question type: True/False/Not given

Answer Location: Paragraph E

Answer explanation: “Indeed, those with extreme maximization ratings had depression scores that placed them in the borderline of clinical range.” The passage does not suggest that people are becoming happier due to having more choices; in fact, it discusses how more choices can lead to unhappiness for some individuals.

6 Answer: Not Given

Question type: True/False/Not given

Answer Location: N.A.

Answer explanation: There is no information about the given sentence in the paragraphs.

7 Answer: True

Question type: True/False/Not given

Answer Location: Paragraph F

Answer explanation: “People respond much more strongly to losses than gains. Opportunity costs reduce the overall desirability of the most preferred choice, then the more alternatives there are, the deeper our sense of loss will be and the less satisfaction we will derive from our ultimate decision.” This mentions that people respond much more strongly to losses than gains, which supports the statement that people tend to react more to losses.

8 Answer: Not Given

Question type: True/False/Not given

Answer Location: N.A.

Answer explanation: The passage doesn’t provide information about gender-based differences in the study of choice-making.

9 Answer: B

Question type: Multiple Choice Question

Answer Location: Paragraph C

Answer explanation: The Maximization Scale is used to diagnose people’s propensity to maximize, and it is related to how they feel after making choices. Hence the answer is B.

10 Answer: D

Question type: Multiple Choice Question

Answer Location: Paragraph H

Answer explanation: The passage discusses that more choices can lead to increased regret, which aligns with the statement. Hence the answer is D.

11 Answer: C

Question type: Multiple Choice Question

Answer Location: Paragraph I

Answer explanation: The example of the theatre ticket illustrates that people who paid a higher price for the tickets were more likely to attend the performances to avoid the regret of wasting a more substantial investment. Hence the answer is C.

12 Answer: D

Question type: Multiple Choice Question

Answer Location: Paragraph I

Answer explanation: The passage suggests that limiting options or choices in certain situations can help increase happiness when making decisions. Hence the answer is D.

Tips for Answering the Question Types in the Decision Making and Happiness Reading Passage

Let us check out some quick tips to answer the types of questions in the ‘Decision Making and Happiness’ Reading passage.

Matching Features: 

Matching Features is a type of IELTS reading question that requires you to match a list of features to the correct people, places, or things in a passage.

To answer matching features questions, you can use the following strategies:

• Read the features first: This will give you an idea of the types of information that you are looking for in the passage.
• Read the passage quickly: This will give you a general understanding of the content of the passage.
• Match the features to the people, places, or things: As you read the passage, look for the information that matches each feature.
• Check your answers: Once you have matched all of the features, double-check your answers to make sure that they are correct.

True/False/Not Given: 

True/False/Not Given questions are a type of IELTS Reading question that requires you to identify whether a statement is true, false, or not given in the passage.

• True statements are statements that are explicitly stated in the passage.
• False statements are statements that are explicitly contradicted in the passage.
• Not Given statements are statements that are neither explicitly stated nor contradicted in the passage

To answer True/False/Not Given questions, you need to be able to understand the passage and identify the key information. You also need to be able to distinguish between statements that are explicitly stated, contradicted, and not given.

Multiple-Choice Questions:

You will be given a reading passage followed by several questions based on the information in the paragraph in multiple-choice questions. Your task is to understand the question and compare it to the paragraph in order to select the best solution from the available possibilities.

• Before reading the passage, read the question and select the keywords. Check the keyword possibilities if the question statement is short on information.
• Then, using the keywords, read the passage to find the relevant information.
• To select the correct option, carefully read the relevant words and match them with each option.
• You will find several options with keywords that do not correspond to the information.
• Try opting for the elimination method mostly.
• Find the best option by matching the meaning rather than just the keywords.

Great work on attempting to solve the Decision Making and Happiness IELTS reading passage! To crack your IELTS Reading in the first go, try solving more of the recent IELTS reading passages here.

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