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The influence of (dis)belief in free will on immoral behavior

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Abstract
One of the hallmarks of human existence is that we all hold beliefs that determine how we act. Amongst such beliefs, the idea that we are endowed with free will appears to be linked to prosocial behaviors, probably by enhancing the feeling of responsibility of individuals over their own actions. However, such effects appear to be more complex that one might have initially thought. Here, we aimed at exploring how induced disbeliefs in free will impact the sense of agency over the consequences of ones own actions in a paradigm that engages morality. To do so, we asked participants to choose to inflict or to refrain from inflicting an electric choc to another participant in exchange of a small financial benefit. Our results show that participants who were primed with a text defending neural determinism - the idea that humans are a mere bunch of neurons guided by their biology - administered fewer shocks and were less vindictive toward the other participant. Importantly, this finding only held for female participants. These results show the complex interaction between gender, (dis)beliefs in free will and moral behavior.
Keywords
BELIEF, AGENCY, SENSE, SUGGESTIBILITY, DISBELIEF, GENDER, free will, moral behavior, sense of agency, coercion, social, interactions, beliefs

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MLA
Caspar, Emilie, et al. “The Influence of (Dis)Belief in Free Will on Immoral Behavior.” FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY, vol. 8, 2017, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00020.
APA
Caspar, E., Vuillaume, L., da Gama, P. A. M. D. S., & Cleeremans, A. (2017). The influence of (dis)belief in free will on immoral behavior. FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00020
Chicago author-date
Caspar, Emilie, Laurene Vuillaume, Pedro A. Magalhaes De Saldanha da Gama, and Axel Cleeremans. 2017. “The Influence of (Dis)Belief in Free Will on Immoral Behavior.” FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00020.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Caspar, Emilie, Laurene Vuillaume, Pedro A. Magalhaes De Saldanha da Gama, and Axel Cleeremans. 2017. “The Influence of (Dis)Belief in Free Will on Immoral Behavior.” FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY 8. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00020.
Vancouver
1.
Caspar E, Vuillaume L, da Gama PAMDS, Cleeremans A. The influence of (dis)belief in free will on immoral behavior. FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY. 2017;8.
IEEE
[1]
E. Caspar, L. Vuillaume, P. A. M. D. S. da Gama, and A. Cleeremans, “The influence of (dis)belief in free will on immoral behavior,” FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY, vol. 8, 2017.
@article{8737958,
  abstract     = {{One of the hallmarks of human existence is that we all hold beliefs that determine how we act. Amongst such beliefs, the idea that we are endowed with free will appears to be linked to prosocial behaviors, probably by enhancing the feeling of responsibility of individuals over their own actions. However, such effects appear to be more complex that one might have initially thought. Here, we aimed at exploring how induced disbeliefs in free will impact the sense of agency over the consequences of ones own actions in a paradigm that engages morality. To do so, we asked participants to choose to inflict or to refrain from inflicting an electric choc to another participant in exchange of a small financial benefit. Our results show that participants who were primed with a text defending neural determinism - the idea that humans are a mere bunch of neurons guided by their biology - administered fewer shocks and were less vindictive toward the other participant. Importantly, this finding only held for female participants. These results show the complex interaction between gender, (dis)beliefs in free will and moral behavior.}},
  articleno    = {{20}},
  author       = {{Caspar, Emilie and Vuillaume, Laurene and da Gama, Pedro A. Magalhaes De Saldanha and Cleeremans, Axel}},
  issn         = {{1664-1078}},
  journal      = {{FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY}},
  keywords     = {{BELIEF,AGENCY,SENSE,SUGGESTIBILITY,DISBELIEF,GENDER,free will,moral behavior,sense of agency,coercion,social,interactions,beliefs}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{9}},
  title        = {{The influence of (dis)belief in free will on immoral behavior}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00020}},
  volume       = {{8}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}

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