Despite knowing better, people often follow the opinion of others when making decisions. Although people predict feeling less culpable if things go wrong after following someone else’s suggestion (Study 2; n = 199), our research shows that the opposite is true (Studies 1, 3-5; n = 3,000). In studies involving real monetary consequences, we find that people actually feel more culpable when they go against their better judgment. This counterintuitive effect occurs because going against one’s better judgment increases thoughts about alternative, better decisions that could have been made, which in turn paradoxically increases feelings of control over the situation. This effect occurs regardless of whether input is solicited (Study 1) or unsolicited (Studies 3-5) and is specific to situations where people go against their better judgment. It does not occur if they reject poor suggestions (Study 4) or follow input that aligns with their judgment (Study 5).