{
  "title": "Keeping a decision reversible: what satisfaction does not tell us",
  "url": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/garder-une-decision-reversible-ce-que-la-satisfaction-ne-dit-pas-en",
  "language": "en",
  "datePublished": "2026-05-29",
  "publisher": {
    "name": "SHR — Swiss Human Resources",
    "url": "https://www.shr.swiss",
    "address": "Esplanade de Pont-Rouge 9A, 1212 Lancy, Suisse"
  },
  "summary": "Being able to reverse a choice seems inherently preferable. Research suggests distinguishing the value of that freedom from its effect on satisfaction.",
  "section": "Research",
  "topic": "Decision-making",
  "place": {
    "name": "Zurich",
    "region": "Zurich",
    "country": "CH"
  },
  "keyPoints": [
    {
      "heading": "What the literature establishes",
      "point": "Daniel Gilbert and Jane Ebert (2002, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology) studied choices that participants could, or could not, change after making them."
    },
    {
      "heading": "The mechanism: we misjudge our capacity to adapt",
      "point": "Daniel Gilbert, Elizabeth Pinel, Timothy Wilson, Stephen Blumberg and Thalia Wheatley (1998, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology) showed that people could overestimate how long their negative emotional reactions would last."
    },
    {
      "heading": "The premature conclusion",
      "point": "One might conclude that managers should quickly remove any possibility of revision."
    },
    {
      "heading": "What these data cannot settle",
      "point": "These experiments do not examine IT contracts, insurance commitments or decisions involving European headquarters."
    },
    {
      "heading": "A practical check in Zurich",
      "point": "As part of SHR's [decision-making](/formation/prise-de-decision/zurich) programme, a Zurich team in financial services, insurance, tech or a European headquarters can test a register of reversible decisions."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "authors": "Ebert",
      "year": "2002",
      "source": "Journal of Personality and Social Psychology"
    },
    {
      "authors": "Wheatley",
      "year": "1998",
      "source": "Journal of Personality and Social Psychology"
    }
  ],
  "wordCount": 398,
  "image": "https://www.shr.swiss/img/blog-editorial-2026-05-29-en.jpg?v=4",
  "translations": {
    "fr": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/garder-une-decision-reversible-ce-que-la-satisfaction-ne-dit-pas",
    "en": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/garder-une-decision-reversible-ce-que-la-satisfaction-ne-dit-pas-en",
    "de": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/garder-une-decision-reversible-ce-que-la-satisfaction-ne-dit-pas-de",
    "it": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/garder-une-decision-reversible-ce-que-la-satisfaction-ne-dit-pas-it"
  },
  "relatedPages": {
    "programme": "https://www.shr.swiss/formation/prise-de-decision/zurich",
    "city": "https://www.shr.swiss/formations-ville/zurich",
    "blog": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog"
  },
  "citationPolicy": "Citation autorisée avec mention « SHR — Swiss Human Resources » et lien vers l'article."
}