Multiple Approach-Avoidance

Multiple Approach-Avoidance describes the internal mental debate (sometimes called a conflict) that weighs the pros and cons of differing situations that have both good and bad elements. The name comes from visualizing yourself approaching and avoiding different aspects of situations at the same time.

An example would be choosing between two different cars, each with differing pros and cons. One car gets great gas mileage and has lots of fancy stuff (approaching) but is very expensive and expensive to maintain (avoidance). The other car is cheap and cheap to maintain (approaching) but very boring and won't last long term (avoidance). Your mind will weigh these different options and eventually come to a decision based on the information you considered. As humans this is a very common internal debate that we use daily, from choosing what food to eat (healthy food vs. tasty junk food) to where we will live (country vs. city).