What is "decision fatigue"

n. (context psychology English) The deteriorating quality of decisions made by an individual after a long session of decision making.

In decision making and psychology, decision fatigue refers to the deteriorating quality of decisions made by an individual, after a long session of decision making. It is now understood as one of the causes of irrational trade-offs in decision making. For instance, judges in court have been shown to make less favorable decisions later in the day than early in the day. Decision fatigue may also lead to consumers making poor choices with their purchases.

There is a paradox in that "people who lack choices seem to want them and often will fight for them"; yet at the same time, "people find that making many choices can be [psychologically] aversive."