Decision-making by people: How this improves teamwork and cross-cultural relations
By Dr. Tim Sandle
August 17, 2025
DIGITAL JOURNAL
Many exiled Tibetans accuse China's ruling Communist Party of repression and eroding their culture - Copyright AFP Santiago MAZZAROVICH
When it comes to the crunch, we are happy to ignore artificial intelligence and resort to our own reasoning, according to a new Canadian study. A study has revealed that when faced with complex decisions, people across cultures—from bustling megacities to remote Amazon communities—tend to rely on their own judgment rather than seeking advice.
Researchers from the University of Waterloo sought to learn how people from diverse cultures make decisions. This work is described as the broadest test of decision-style preferences across cultures to date.
The research, spanning over 3,500 participants in 12 countries, challenges our reliance on advances in machine learning as well as the long-held belief that self-reliance is primarily a Western trait.
Cultural differences
While cultural values influence how strongly individuals lean on their inner voice, the preference for private reflection remains a shared human tendency.
The researchers observe that by understanding that even in interdependent societies most people prefer to go with the decision made by themselves, irrespective of what others say, can help clarify cross-cultural misunderstandings and realize that we all appear to be juggling similar internal debates.
According to lead researcher Dr. Igor Grossmann, professor in the Department of Psychology at Waterloo: “Realizing that most of us instinctively ‘go it alone’ helps explain why we often ignore good counsel, be it for health tips or financial planning, despite mounting evidence: that such counsel may help us make wiser decisions…This knowledge can help us design teamwork better by working with this self-reliant tendency and letting employees reason privately before sharing advice that they might reject.”
In essence, the study upends the belief that westerners work things out themselves while the rest of the world leans on others, as does artificial intelligence.
In fact, intuition and self-reflection beat out advice from friends or crowdsourcing in all countries studied. The amount of that preference varied, depending on the level at which a culture values independence or interdependence.
Grossmann adds: “Our take-home message is that we all look inward first, yet the wisest moves may happen when solo reflections are shared with others… What culture does is controls the volume knob, dialling up that inner voice in highly independent societies and softening it somewhat in more interdependent ones.”
What does this mean for AI?
The same appears true with AI. While AI is increasingly used to assist and automate decision-making, humans still make the ultimate choices, especially in critical situations. Many experts believe that the most effective approach is a “human-in-the-loop” model, where AI provides support, and humans make the final decisions.
The research appears in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Science, titled “Decision-making preferences for intuition, deliberation, friends or crowds in independent and interdependent societies.”
Many exiled Tibetans accuse China's ruling Communist Party of repression and eroding their culture - Copyright AFP Santiago MAZZAROVICH
When it comes to the crunch, we are happy to ignore artificial intelligence and resort to our own reasoning, according to a new Canadian study. A study has revealed that when faced with complex decisions, people across cultures—from bustling megacities to remote Amazon communities—tend to rely on their own judgment rather than seeking advice.
Researchers from the University of Waterloo sought to learn how people from diverse cultures make decisions. This work is described as the broadest test of decision-style preferences across cultures to date.
The research, spanning over 3,500 participants in 12 countries, challenges our reliance on advances in machine learning as well as the long-held belief that self-reliance is primarily a Western trait.
Cultural differences
While cultural values influence how strongly individuals lean on their inner voice, the preference for private reflection remains a shared human tendency.
The researchers observe that by understanding that even in interdependent societies most people prefer to go with the decision made by themselves, irrespective of what others say, can help clarify cross-cultural misunderstandings and realize that we all appear to be juggling similar internal debates.
According to lead researcher Dr. Igor Grossmann, professor in the Department of Psychology at Waterloo: “Realizing that most of us instinctively ‘go it alone’ helps explain why we often ignore good counsel, be it for health tips or financial planning, despite mounting evidence: that such counsel may help us make wiser decisions…This knowledge can help us design teamwork better by working with this self-reliant tendency and letting employees reason privately before sharing advice that they might reject.”
In essence, the study upends the belief that westerners work things out themselves while the rest of the world leans on others, as does artificial intelligence.
In fact, intuition and self-reflection beat out advice from friends or crowdsourcing in all countries studied. The amount of that preference varied, depending on the level at which a culture values independence or interdependence.
Grossmann adds: “Our take-home message is that we all look inward first, yet the wisest moves may happen when solo reflections are shared with others… What culture does is controls the volume knob, dialling up that inner voice in highly independent societies and softening it somewhat in more interdependent ones.”
What does this mean for AI?
The same appears true with AI. While AI is increasingly used to assist and automate decision-making, humans still make the ultimate choices, especially in critical situations. Many experts believe that the most effective approach is a “human-in-the-loop” model, where AI provides support, and humans make the final decisions.
The research appears in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Science, titled “Decision-making preferences for intuition, deliberation, friends or crowds in independent and interdependent societies.”
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