Free to help? An experiment on free will belief and altruism

The value of believing in free will: A prediction on seeking and experiencing meaning in life

Despite abundant philosophical pondering and experiential evidence demonstrating the need for freedom in leading a meaningful life, the literature lacks an investigation of whether and how free will beliefs contribute to one's meaningful life as an antecedent variable. Based on the coupling of the life-affirming hypothesis and Chinese culture, we used a manipulation experiment (Study 1, n = 242) and a two-wave longitudinal study (Study 2, n = 378) to test the potential causality between laypeople's daily beliefs in free will and meaning in life (presence of and search for meaning) with two samples of Chinese undergraduates. The results show that belief in free will positively predicts the presence of meaning and search for meaning, immediately (Study 1) and 2 months later (Study 2). The present work corroborated that the belief in free will is an antecedent variable that imbues life with meaning and sparks actions seeking meaning, supporting the life-affirming hypothesis instead of the deficit-correcting hypothesis.

Imitation and interindividual differences: Belief in free will is not related to automatic imitation

It is well known that individuals have the tendency to automatically imitate each other and that such imitative behavior is fostered by perceiving intentions in others' actions. That is, past research has shown that perceiving an action as internally driven enhances the shared representation of observed and executed actions increasing automatic imitation. An interpersonal factor that increases the perception that a behavior is internally driven is belief in free will. Consequently, we hypothesized that the more individuals believe in free will, the more they automatically imitate others. To test this prediction, we conducted two high-powered (total N = 642) and preregistered studies in which we assessed automatic imitation with the imitation-inhibition task. Contrary to our predictions, belief in free will did not correlate with automatic imitation. This finding contributes to current findings challenging the assumption that automatic imitation is modulated by interindividual differences. Further theoretical implications are discussed.

Free to blame? Belief in free will is related to victim blaming

The more people believe in free will, the harsher their punishment of criminal offenders. A reason for this finding is that belief in free will leads individuals to perceive others as responsible for their behavior. While research supporting this notion has mainly focused on criminal offenders, the perspective of the victims has been neglected so far. We filled this gap and hypothesized that individuals' belief in free will is positively correlated with victim blaming-the tendency to make victims responsible for their bad luck. In three studies, we found that the more individuals believe in free will, the more they blame victims. Study 3 revealed that belief in free will is correlated with victim blaming even when controlling for just world beliefs, religious worldviews, and political ideology. The results contribute to a more differentiated view of the role of free will beliefs and attributed intentions.

Are Free Will Believers Nicer People? (Four Studies Suggest Not)

Free will is widely considered a foundational component of Western moral and legal codes, and yet current conceptions of free will are widely thought to fit uncomfortably with much research in psychology and neuroscience. Recent research investigating the consequences of laypeople’s free will beliefs (FWBs) for everyday moral behavior suggests that stronger FWBs are associated with various desirable moral characteristics (e.g., greater helpfulness, less dishonesty). These findings have sparked concern regarding the potential for moral degeneration throughout society as science promotes a view of human behavior that is widely perceived to undermine the notion of free will. We report four studies (combined N = 921) originally concerned with possible mediators and/or moderators of the abovementioned associations. Unexpectedly, we found no association between FWBs and moral behavior. Our findings suggest that the FWB–moral behavior association (and accompanying concerns regarding decreases in FWBs causing moral degeneration) may be overstated.