Decision making processes in groups in uncertain situations – An experimental study

¹ Forschungszentrum Jülich/ Institute for Advanced Simulations / Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, Jülich 52428, Germany
² University of Wuppertal/ Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences / Gaußstraße 20 42119 Wuppertal, Germany

^* Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published online: 12 September 2025

Abstract

In everyday life, we often encounter unclear situations that require quick action but do not provide a clear basis for decision-making. Especially in traffic environments such as railway stations, crowd motion can become dangerous in confined spaces such as tunnels or platforms. Therefore, a better understanding of the decision-making mechanisms in such situations is essential. The aim of this experimental study was to provide a first empirical approximation of spatial decision-making processes in anonymous situations. It was hypothesized that direct communication, group size and shared social identity have an influence on the duration and homogeneity of group-level decisions. The results show that decisions are more homogeneous in smaller groups than in larger ones, while communication does not directly influence the homogeneity of decisions. Further studies are needed to systematically investigate behavioural patterns in such situations.