Free will beliefs are better predicted by dualism than determinism beliefs across different cultures

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 14; no. 9; p. e0221617
• Main Authors: Wisniewski, David, Deutschländer, Robert, Haynes, John-Dylan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 11.09.2019; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adult; Age Distribution; Analysis; Beliefs; Biology and Life Sciences; Computer and Information Sciences; Criminal investigations; Cultural Evolution; Culture; Determinism; Dualism (Philosophy); Female; Free will; Freedom; Health Surveys; Humans; Intuition; Libertarianism; Male; Middle Aged; Neurosciences; People and places; Personal Autonomy; Philosophy; Psychology; Research and Analysis Methods; Singapore; Social Behavior; Social Sciences; United States; Wisniewski, David; Young Adult; United States; Singapore; Germany
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0221617

Most people believe in free will. Whether this belief is warranted or not, free will beliefs (FWB) are foundational for many legal systems and reducing FWB has effects on behavior from the motor to the social level. This raises the important question as to which specific FWB people hold. There are many different ways to conceptualize free will, and some might see physical determinism as a threat that might reduce FWB, while others might not. Here, we investigate lay FWB in a large, representative, replicated online survey study in the US and Singapore (n = 1800), assessing differences in FWB with unprecedented depth within and between cultures. Specifically, we assess the relation of FWB, as measured using the Free Will Inventory, to determinism, dualism and related concepts like libertarianism and compatibilism. We find that libertarian, compatibilist, and dualist, intuitions were related to FWB, but that these intuitions were often logically inconsistent. Importantly, direct comparisons suggest that dualism was more predictive of FWB than other intuitions. Thus, believing in free will goes hand-in-hand with a belief in a non-physical mind. Highlighting the importance of dualism for FWB impacts academic debates on free will, which currently largely focus on its relation to determinism. Our findings also shed light on how recent (neuro)scientific findings might impact FWB. Demonstrating physical determinism in the brain need not have a strong impact on FWB, due to a wide-spread belief in dualism.