Psychology & Behavior
Section 1
Core Idea
Extremeness aversion is the tendency to avoid the most extreme option in a set, regardless of its actual merit. When choosing between three options, people disproportionately favour the middle one — not because it's best, but because it feels safe. The core idea: we use "not extreme" as a proxy for "reasonable." This makes us predictably manipulable and causes us to avoid bold choices that may be optimal.
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Section 2
How to See It
Pricing & Product
You're seeing Extremeness Aversion when customers overwhelmingly choose the mid-tier plan in a three-tier pricing structure. The middle option wins not on value but on position. Add a premium tier and the old high tier becomes the new middle — and sales shift.
Strategy & Decisions
You're seeing Extremeness Aversion when a team rejects both the bold bet and the conservative play in favour of a lukewarm compromise — not because it's the best strategy, but because it feels less risky than either end.
Section 3
How to Use It
Offensively: structure choices so the option you want chosen sits in the middle. Defensively: when you find yourself gravitating to the middle option, ask whether it's genuinely best or just least uncomfortable. Evaluate each option on its merits, not its position in the set.
Decision filter
"Are we choosing the middle because it's optimal, or because the extremes feel risky? If only two options existed, would we still pick this one?"
As a founder
Use extremeness aversion in pricing by offering three tiers with the target option in the middle. Guard against it in strategy by evaluating bold moves on their own terms, not relative to a range. Sometimes the extreme is exactly right.
Section 5
Founders & Leaders
Ingvar KampradFounder of IKEA; master of middle-market positioning
Kamprad built IKEA's entire value proposition in the space extremeness aversion creates — the middle ground between luxury furniture and disposable junk. He understood intuitively that most customers avoid extremes and gravitate toward "good enough at a fair price." IKEA's product range, store layout, and pricing all exploit this tendency. Founders can apply this in two ways. First, in pricing and positioning, structure your offering so the option you prefer sits between a stripped-down and a premium version. Second, in strategy, recognise when you're defaulting to the middle out of comfort. Kamprad chose a radical middle position deliberately — don't confuse that with timid centrism born of extremeness aversion.
Section 7
Connected Models
Reinforces
Compromise Effect
The compromise effect is extremeness aversion applied to purchasing: the middle option in a set gets disproportionate share. Both describe the same pull toward the centre. Use them together in pricing strategy; guard against them in decision-making.
Reinforces
Status Quo Bias
Status quo bias favours the current state; extremeness aversion favours the moderate option. Both resist change and boldness. Together they create a powerful gravitational pull toward the safe middle, which can trap teams in mediocrity.
Tension
Barbell Strategy
The barbell strategy deliberately avoids the middle, concentrating at the extremes — very safe and very aggressive. It directly contradicts extremeness aversion. Use the barbell as a structural counter: sometimes the best allocation is at the edges, not the centre.
Section 8
One Key Quote
— Itamar Simonson, researcher on choice"Options are not evaluated in isolation. The context of the choice set systematically pulls preferences toward the middle."
Section 11
Summary & Further Reading
Extremeness aversion makes us favour middle options and avoid bold ones. Use it offensively in pricing and product design; guard against it in strategy by evaluating each option on its own merits. The middle is sometimes right — but only when chosen deliberately, not by default.