Free love? On the relation between belief in free will, determinism, and passionate love.
Is love possible if we are not free? Some philosophers consider that true love is necessarily free, while others think that the nature of love makes it incompatible with a certain type of freedom. Here, we explored the relationship between feelings of passionate love, belief in free will and determinism across three online studies. In Study 1 (N=257), participants who believed strongly in free will (or determinism) expressed stronger passionate love. In Study 2 (N=305), we again found a positive association between belief in free will (or determinism) and passionate love, although the passionate love-determinism relationship seems more conditional. Finally, Study 3 (N=309) confirmed the relationship between belief in free will and passionate love but not between belief in determinism and passionate love. These findings, along with a meta-analysis, suggest that both beliefs in free will and determinism are compatible with passionate love.
Univ. Grenoble Alpes, France. Electronic address: jmj.boudesseul@gmail.com.
Jordane
J
Boudesseul
Univ. Grenoble Alpes, France.
Anthony
A
Lantian
University of Geneva, Switzerland.
Florian
F
Cova
Univ. Grenoble Alpes, France.
Laurent
L
Bègue
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008149:Love; D008297:Male; D026684:Personal Autonomy
Determinism; Free will; Passionate love; Romantic relationships