Two heads sometimes better than one

Confidence can boost or bust group decisions

Wise groups follow the advice of confident decision makers. So do foolish groups. But a group’s success or failure depends on whether what’s commonly known corresponds to the truth in a given situation, a new study finds.

Heeding recommendations of the most confident member of a two- or three-person group often works well, says psychologist Asher Koriat of the University of Haifa in Israel.