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

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• 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
• 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.

Free Research Field

社会心理学