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鈥淭his is not an argument against democracy. But when we make collective decisions, we are driven a little more by envy. The fact that it shows up so clearly in an experiment tells us that there is good and bad in everything,鈥� says Gustav Tingh枚g, professor of economics at the Department of Management and Engineering at Link枚ping University.

Individual or group decision

The research was carried out in two stages. The first included 574 students from a Swedish university. This was followed by a larger study of 1,176 English-speaking participants, which produced the same results as the first study. The findings are published in the European Economic Review.

In both studies, participants were asked to choose between different ways of dividing money between themselves and another person. One option always involved an equal split. In the other option, the distribution varied in different ways, favouring either one party or the other.

Participants were randomly assigned to groups. In one group, each participant made an individual decision. In the other, participants voted on which allocation should be implemented, with the majority decision determining the outcome.

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Influential envy

The results of both studies point clearly in the same direction: envy has a greater influence in group decision-making. For example, participants were asked to choose between splitting a sum of money equally, 40鈥�40, or in favour of the other person, 40鈥�50. In the larger study, 56.7 per cent chose the equal split when making an individual decision, compared with 67.9 per cent under majority voting 鈥� a difference of 11.2 percentage points.

In other words, under majority voting participants were more likely to reduce the other person鈥檚 allocation, even though they themselves received no additional money. They preferred to reduce the total amount of money available rather than let the other person have more. The researchers interpret this as envy rather than greed.

鈥淧ut simply, people dislike others getting more than they do. And that is reinforced when people vote rather than make an individual decision,鈥� says Gustav Tingh枚g.

Equality - but not at any cost

The same pattern emerged when choosing an equal split required participants to make a small sacrifice themselves. They were asked to choose between allocations of 40鈥�40 and 41鈥�50. Under majority voting, they chose the first option much more often, even though the second option would have given them slightly more. However, the results also show that this behaviour becomes less pronounced the more people themselves have to give up in order to achieve complete equality.

The researchers also examined whether voting influenced participants鈥� behaviour more generally. The answer was no. Neither selfishness nor generosity is affected by whether decisions are made individually or collectively. The effect is specific: it is envy itself 鈥� the unwillingness to let others have more 鈥� that is reinforced when we vote together. 听

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Reduced personal responsibility

So what is it that makes envy stronger in collective decision-making? One possible explanation is that responsibility for the decision feels less personal when it is shared among many people. Because our own vote is unlikely to be decisive, it becomes easier to let destructive emotions guide us. According to Gustav Tingh枚g, it is important to be aware of this.

鈥淥ur results show that voting itself can reinforce envy, not because we are bad people, but because shared responsibility makes it easier to let the worst in us take over. Personally, I think it鈥檚 foolish to let envy determine how you vote. It鈥檚 worth asking yourself: Would I vote the same way if I were making the decision on my own at my kitchen table?鈥�

The research was funded by the Swedish Research Council.听

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Artikel: , K Hansson, K Barrafrem, L Mayiwar, E Persson, G Tingh枚g, European Economic Review, publicerad juni 2026, doi: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2026.105389