Collective decisions are ubiquitous, but so is the drive for autonomy. What makes people choose one over the other? Previous literature mainly contrasts how people take decisions when they are in groups or on their own, leaving it open when and why they would opt for either in the first place. To tackle this question, we will ask participants to make perceptual decisions and subsequently to choose whether they wanted their rewards or losses to depend only on their decision or to have their decision pooled with those of other participants. First, we will examine whether the preference for collective or individual decisions is a trait, and if so, on which individual characteristics it may depend. We will then consider whether being less certain about one’s decision and risking a loss makes people more prone to join a group, and if this is reflected in feeling less responsible for the decision outcome.
