Kicking Yourself: Going Against Your Inclinations Leads to Greater Feelings of Control and Culpability

Despite knowing better, people often follow the opinions of others when making decisions. Although people in joint evaluation mode (i.e., comparing options side-by-side) anticipate feeling less culpable if things go wrong after following someone else’s suggestion, our research shows the opposite effect when they actually experience one of the options. Across multiple studies (n = 3,200), including four with real monetary consequences, we find that people feel more culpable when they go against their better judgment. This counterintuitive effect occurs because going against one’s better judgment increases thoughts about alternative, better decisions that could have been made, which amplify feelings of control over the situation. This effect occurs regardless of whether the input is solicited or unsolicited and is specific to situations where people go against their better judgment. It does not occur if people reject poor suggestions or follow input that aligns with their judgment.