title: Reducing self-control by weakening belief in free will.
abstract: Believing in free will may arise from a biological need for control. People induced to disbelieve in free will show impulsive and antisocial tendencies, suggesting a reduction of the willingness to exert self-control. We investigated whether undermining free will affects two aspects of self-control: intentional inhibition and perceived self-control. We exposed participants either to anti-free will or to neutral messages. The two groups (no-free will and control) then performed a task that required self-control to inhibit a prepotent response. No-free will participants showed less intentional inhibitions than controls, suggesting a reduction of self-control. We assessed perceived self-control by asking participants whether the response resulted from a deliberate intention or from an impulsive reaction. Perceived self-control was lower in the no-free will group than in control group. Our findings show that undermining free will can degrade self-control and provide insights into how disbelieving in free will leads to antisocial tendencies.
authors.affiliation: LNC, University of Provence, CNRS, Marseille, France. davide.rigoni@univ-provence.fr
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rigoni
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kühn
authors.forename: Gennaro
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gaudino
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sartori
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brass
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D033182:Intention; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult