http://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_on_the_paradox_of_choice.html I thought this guy was onto something, until I analysed some survey data and found: Of the 292 people with a great deal of choice and control 275 also rated themselves as happy, that’s 94.17%. Compare that to those who say they have no control at all, only 38.89% report being happy. That's based on data I found in the Australian World Value Survey 2005 with a sample size of 1421 people.