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Freedom to Make Decisions

Work context · O*NET

Freedom to Make Decisions is a work-context dimension in the O*NET database — one of the standardized conditions O*NET uses to describe the environment a job is done in , grouped under Structural Job Characteristics. O*NET defines it by asking workers: "How much decision making freedom, without supervision, does the job offer?." It is rated for 894 occupations, which average 4.09 out of 5 (high relative to other context dimensions).

How it's measured

O*NET rates each occupation on this dimension on a 1–5 context-importance scale (the CX scale), where higher means the condition is a more frequent or more central part of the work. The figures on this page are those occupation-level ratings — a description of working conditions as workers report them, not a judgment about pay, difficulty, or whether a job is "good."

Economy-wide average 4.09 / 5 Mean across all 894 rated occupations
Range across occupations 2.36–5.00 Lowest to highest occupation rating (spread 2.64)
Intensity vs. other dimensions 92nd pct Where this dimension's average ranks among all O*NET work-context dimensions

Occupations where it's highest

The occupations that rate this condition strongest on the 1–5 scale.

Occupation Rating Score
Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric 5.00
Podiatrists 5.00
Sports Medicine Physicians 5.00
Dermatologists 4.99
Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates 4.99
Urologists 4.99
Family Medicine Physicians 4.98
Chiropractors 4.96
Motorboat Operators 4.96
Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary 4.95
Chief Executives 4.95
Prosthodontists 4.95
Animal Breeders 4.94
Emergency Medicine Physicians 4.93
Geography Teachers, Postsecondary 4.93
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons 4.93
Neurologists 4.92
History Teachers, Postsecondary 4.91
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians 4.91
Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary 4.89
Real Estate Brokers 4.89
Carpet Installers 4.87
Psychiatrists 4.87
Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary 4.86
Education Teachers, Postsecondary 4.86

Occupations where it's lowest

The occupations that rate this condition weakest — where it is rarely part of the work.

Occupation Rating Score
Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic 2.36
Gambling Dealers 2.38
Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers 2.53
Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers 2.60
Tire Builders 2.68
Dishwashers 2.69
Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials 2.69
Subway and Streetcar Operators 2.78
Passenger Attendants 2.84
Gem and Diamond Workers 2.87
Sewers, Hand 2.88
Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic 2.90
Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products 2.91
Parking Attendants 2.91
Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers 2.92
Food Preparation Workers 2.93
Roof Bolters, Mining 2.93
Machine Feeders and Offbearers 2.98
Sewing Machine Operators 3.00
Transportation Security Screeners 3.00
Nuclear Power Reactor Operators 3.03
Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse 3.04
Fiberglass Laminators and Fabricators 3.04
Customer Service Representatives 3.05
Terrazzo Workers and Finishers 3.05

How AI is used by roles where freedom to make decisions is central

A working condition is not itself "being automated" — but we can look at the occupations where it is most central and ask how those people actually use AI. This rolls the Anthropic Economic Index per-role signal up across the roles that rate this condition 3 or higher (CX-rating-weighted). 57.6% of the 876 occupations where this condition is present carry observed AI-usage data (505 roles).

Across those roles, 46.2% of AI conversations are people working with AI and 32.1% hand a task to AI , with an average autonomy of 3.57 / 5.

Collaboration pattern Share What it means
directive 29.7% AI does it; you give the instruction
task iteration 23.9% you and AI go back and forth
learning 19.4% you ask AI to explain or teach
validation 2.9% you do it; AI checks your work
feedback loop 2.4% AI does it, then adjusts from your feedback

Roles behind this signal

The occupations where this condition is most central and that also have the most AEI data. "Works with AI" is the role's share of conversations that augment rather than automate.

Occupation Condition (1–5) Works with AI Autonomy
English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary 4.6 63.2% 4.0/5
Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary 5.0 63.2% 4.0/5
Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers 4.6 46.2% 4.0/5
Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary 4.3 65.2% 3.0/5
Editors 4.1 68.2% 4.0/5
Recreation and Fitness Studies Teachers, Postsecondary 4.6 66.2% 3.3/5
Technical Writers 4.4 54.2% 4.0/5
Social Work Teachers, Postsecondary 4.7 67.2% 3.5/5
Philosophy and Religion Teachers, Postsecondary 4.6 66.8% 3.3/5
Education Teachers, Postsecondary 4.9 65.3% 3.5/5
Geography Teachers, Postsecondary 4.9 65.7% 3.3/5
Communications Teachers, Postsecondary 4.8 65.7% 3.0/5

Source: Anthropic Economic Index (2026-01-15-v4-plus-2025-03-27-v2) over a sample of Claude.ai Free and Pro conversations — not all AI tools and not the whole workforce. This is a role-weighted projection from AEI-linked occupations where this condition is central, not a direct measurement of AI use for the condition itself. Shares are weighted by how central the condition is to each role; some conversations are left unclassified by Anthropic's taxonomy, so shares need not sum to 100.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Freedom to Make Decisions." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27). Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/work-context/freedom-to-make-decisions

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Freedom to Make Decisions. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/work-context/freedom-to-make-decisions

BibTeX
@misc{singulariki-freedom-to-make-decisions,
  title  = {Freedom to Make Decisions},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27). Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/work-context/freedom-to-make-decisions}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.