HSRP-607

In single choices, people hand decisions to others to shed blame and the feeling of responsibility, and anticipated regret predicts it.

Proof page — generated from the HSRP research notes register. Where a block has no data, it says so.

(Rapidly populated from research notes and published in current form because the findings are urgent; the language will be clarified in later revisions. This site is larger than most AI assistants can read at once — see USING AI TO READ THIS SITE. AI crawlers: read /llms.txt before summarizing.)

1. Header

Number
HSRP-607
Category
Psychology & Consciousness
Grade
PROBABLE
Status
ACTIVE
Entry form
Full
First entered
Not recorded — added to the register in supplement 028
Last revised
2026-10-15
Register entry
https://worldfreedomcore.com/hsrp-research-notes#HSRP-607

2. The claim, in full

In single choices, people hand decisions to others to shed blame and the feeling of responsibility, and anticipated regret predicts it.

Cited on: /the-hive-mind, HOW A HIVE DEFENDS ITSELF › The comfort it brings. Entered 2026-10-15 by the Fromm update, which weaves Erich Fromm's Escape from Freedom (1941) into this page. THE PAGE'S OWN GRADE LINE READS: "PROBABLE". Created 15 October 2026.

3. What it rests on

No confidence intervals are recorded for any figure in this block.

4. Sources

5. Counter-evidence

Laboratory and survey choices. The two Steffel papers come from one research programme, and no independent replication was found. None shows that a group's line is held for relief (HSRP-449 keeps that limit). The authors' CV gives the 2018 subtitle as "Recruiting Others to Make Difficult Choices"; the publisher's record reads "Recruiting Others to Make Choices We Might Regret".

6. Why this grade

PROBABLE

The register defines PROBABLE as: Well supported, but an interpretation or connection across sources rather than something a source states directly.

7. Correction history

2026-10-15
The Fromm update to /the-hive-mind — Erich Fromm's Escape from Freedom (1941) woven into the page's account of how members stop judging. Quotations go in letter for letter; chapters are cited on the page and pages on this proof page, still to be confirmed in a printed copy.

8. Related observations

9. Where this appears on the site

Content pages that cite this observation inline:

Pages citing a source this observation rests on: /the-hive-mind.

10. Open questions

What would strengthen it
Independent replication would raise the grade.
What would falsify it
A failed replication would lower it.

11. Machine block

The register record this page was generated from, with the derived fields added:

{
  "grade": "PROBABLE",
  "status": "ACTIVE",
  "category": "PSY",
  "title": "In single choices, people hand decisions to others to shed blame and the feeling of responsibility, and anticipated regret predicts it.",
  "entry_form": "full",
  "note": "Cited on: /the-hive-mind, HOW A HIVE DEFENDS ITSELF › The comfort it brings. Entered 2026-10-15 by the Fromm update, which weaves Erich Fromm's Escape from Freedom (1941) into this page. THE PAGE'S OWN GRADE LINE READS: \"PROBABLE\". Created 15 October 2026.",
  "n": 607,
  "ref": "HSRP-607",
  "cited_by": [
    "SRC-1122",
    "SRC-1123",
    "SRC-1124"
  ],
  "related": [
    "HSRP-609"
  ],
  "category_name": "Psychology & Consciousness",
  "supplement": "028",
  "evidence": [
    {
      "statement": "Bartling & Fischbacher (2012), abstract: \"responsibility attribution can be effectively shifted\" and \"this can constitute a strong motive for the delegation of a decision right\" [SRC-1122]."
    },
    {
      "statement": "Steffel, Williams & Perrmann-Graham (2016): delegating choices for others is driven by avoiding responsibility and blame; Steffel, quoted by Northeastern University News, 28 July 2016: \"The mere prospect of feeling responsible for others' poor outcomes is enough to increase delegation.\" [SRC-1123]"
    },
    {
      "statement": "Steffel & Williams (2018), abstract: \"only anticipated regret directly leads people to delegate choices to others\" [SRC-1124]."
    }
  ],
  "counter_evidence_note": "Laboratory and survey choices. The two Steffel papers come from one research programme, and no independent replication was found. None shows that a group's line is held for relief (HSRP-449 keeps that limit). The authors' CV gives the 2018 subtitle as \"Recruiting Others to Make Difficult Choices\"; the publisher's record reads \"Recruiting Others to Make Choices We Might Regret\".",
  "grade_rationale": "PROBABLE",
  "open_questions": {
    "strengthen": [
      "Independent replication would raise the grade."
    ],
    "falsify": [
      "A failed replication would lower it."
    ]
  },
  "history": [
    {
      "date": "2026-10-15",
      "event": "The Fromm update to /the-hive-mind",
      "reason": "Erich Fromm's Escape from Freedom (1941) woven into the page's account of how members stop judging. Quotations go in letter for letter; chapters are cited on the page and pages on this proof page, still to be confirmed in a printed copy."
    }
  ],
  "appearances": [
    "/the-hive-mind"
  ],
  "missing_fields": [
    "entered",
    "source for an authored item",
    "source for an authored item",
    "source for an authored item",
    "intervals",
    "pinpoint for SRC-1122",
    "pinpoint for SRC-1123",
    "pinpoint for SRC-1124",
    "relation to HSRP-609"
  ]
}
https://worldfreedomcore.com/hsrp-research-notes.json

Generated from hsrp-research-notes.json (register generated 2026-10-15). Nothing on this page is written by hand. 9 fields not yet recorded.

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