LAUSR

People are more likely to make choices themselves than delegate to an agent, even when it may not be the most optimal decision based on a cost-benefit analysis. Previous studies have demonstrated that retaining authority and controllability might be the primary reason for preferring self-choice. The current study asks whether impairment of controllability associated with self-choice can increase the rate of delegation and whether there are self-other discrepancies in self-choice preference. In three studies, we directly manipulated participants' controllability associated with choice through literal instructions (experiment 1) and visual presentation (experiments 2 and 3). We found that participants showed a robust propensity to under-delegate even when they were aware of their impaired controllability associated with self-choice. Moreover, only 40% impairment of controllability (but not 20%) can decrease the propensity to under-delegate. This trend differed between decision-for-self and decision-for-other. These findings suggest that pursuing a sense of control cannot fully explain self-choice preference and appears to occur equally in decisions for oneself as well as for others.