Development of the empirical model explaining factors and functions of people's free will beliefs

• Project/Area Number: 15H06124
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Social psychology
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University of Education
• Principal Investigator: Watanabe Takumi 北海道教育大学, その他部局等, 特任講師 (80759514)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-08-28 – 2017-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2016)
• Budget Amount: ¥2,990,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥690,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000); Fiscal Year 2015: ¥1,560,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥360,000)
• Keywords: 自由意志信念 / 社会心理学 / 実験哲学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

What is meant by free will? The present research used a free description method and explored specific factors which constitute people’s concept of free will. The results suggest free will means for people to choose actions along with one’s mental states and is free from constraints. Furthermore, the research found that free will beliefs have important social functions such as attribution of moral responsibility and self-control. On the basis of these evidence, a model was constructed which explains the factors and functions of people’s free will beliefs.

Research Products

• [Journal Article] The effects of entitativity on behavioral intentions toward an ambivalent group: From the perspective of ageism (2016)
  • Author(s): 二木望、渡辺匠、櫻井良祐、唐沢かおり
  • Journal Title: Japanese Journal of Social Psychology Volume: 32 Issue: 2 Pages: 81-91
  • DOI: 10.14966/jssp.0879
  • NAID: 130005171198
  • ISSN: 0916-1503, 2189-1338
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Journal Article] Development of a Japanese Version of the Free Will and Determinism Scale (FWDS) (2016)
  • Author(s): 渡辺匠・松本龍児・太田紘史・唐沢かおり
  • Journal Title: The Japanese Journal of Personality Volume: 24 Issue: 3 Pages: 228-231
  • DOI: 10.2132/personality.24.228
  • NAID: 130005138212
  • ISSN: 1348-8406, 1349-6174
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Journal Article] Free will beliefs and moral responsibility: Disbelief in free will leads to less responsibility for third person's crime (2015)
  • Author(s): Watanabe, T., Sakurai, R., & Karasawa, K.
  • Journal Title: Asian Conference on Psychology and the Behavioral Sciences 2015 Official Conference Proceedings Volume: 1 Pages: 423-431
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] The association between free will beliefs and stereotypes: People's belief in fatalism promotes gender stereotypes (2015)
  • Author(s): Watanabe, T., & Karasawa, K.
  • Journal Title: Asian Conference on Ethics, Religion and Philosophy 2015 Official Conference Proceedings Volume: 1 Pages: 67-75
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Presentation] 自由意志の問題に関する概念的・実証的検討 (2016)
  • Author(s): 渡辺匠
  • Organizer: 人文学部研究プロジェクトワークショップ「ヒト認知系の総合的研究」
  • Place of Presentation: 新潟大学
  • Year and Date: 2016-11-15
  • Invited
• [Presentation] How do people conceptualize free will? (2016)
  • Author(s): Watanabe, T.
  • Organizer: Concept Engineering: A Road to Proposing a Better Concept Definition Workshop (The 31st International Congress of Psychology)
  • Place of Presentation: Yokohama
  • Year and Date: 2016-07-25
  • Int'l Joint Research / Invited
• [Presentation] 自己と他者についての自由意志信念が援助意図に与える影響 (2015)
  • Author(s): 松本龍児・渡辺匠・唐沢かおり
  • Organizer: 日本社会心理学会第56回大会
  • Place of Presentation: 東京女子大学（東京都杉並区）
  • Year and Date: 2015-11-01
• [Presentation] 自由意志信念が福祉政策への賛意に与える影響 (2015)
  • Author(s): 松本龍児・渡辺匠・唐沢かおり
  • Organizer: 日本グループ・ダイナミックス学会第62回大会
  • Place of Presentation: 奈良大学（奈良県奈良市）
  • Year and Date: 2015-10-11
• [Book] 自由意志の概念を工学する：心理学側からの問題提起（「概念工学マニフェスト：心理学と哲学との交点」） (2017)
  • Author(s): 渡辺匠
  • Total Pages: 18
  • Publisher: 名古屋大学出版会