Self-determination. The tyranny of freedom.
Americans now live in a time and a place in which freedom and autonomy are valued above all else and in which expanded opportunities for self-determination are regarded as a sign of the psychological well-being of individuals and the moral well-being of the culture. This article argues that freedom, autonomy, and self-determination can become excessive, and that when that happens, freedom can be experienced as a kind of tyranny. The article further argues that unduly influenced by the ideology of economics and rational-choice theory, modern American society has created an excess of freedom, with resulting increases in people's dissatisfaction with their lives and in clinical depression. One significant task for a future psychology of optimal functioning is to deemphasize individual freedom and to determine which cultural constraints are necessary for people to live meaningful and satisfying lives.
Schwartz
B
B
Department of Psychology, Swarthmore College, 500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, PA 19081, USA. bschwar1@swarthmore.edu
D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D005610:Freedom; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D007389:Internal-External Control; D009042:Motivation; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012925:Social Conformity