Chronic Indecision as Choice-Deferral Wrong Attractor: The Perfectionism-Paralysis Loop, Opportunity Cost Accumulation, and the Return to Decisive Agency

This paper applies the Displacement Framework to chronic indecision, analysing it as a wrong-attractor state in which the displacement cost of committing to any choice is elevated by a demand for optimality that forecloses good-enough decisions. Using displacement cost D(ξ), accumulated displacement Φ, and basin geometry, we formalise the perfectionism-paralysis loop and show how deferral reduces short-term anxiety while increasing opportunity costs that make future commitment ever more costly.

Nine propositions characterise the perfectionism-paralysis mechanism, opportunity cost accumulation, decision fatigue, anxiety comorbidity, and return paths through satisficing, bounded rationality, and ACT committed action. Published as part of The Phronesis Issues preprint series.