ABSTRACT
The nature and existence of free will and its relationship with moral reasoning and behavior have been debated by philosophers, theologians, and scientists for centuries, with no resolution in sight. More recently, proponents of "Experimental Philosophy" (Nichols, 2011) have sought to bypass the challenges of ontology by applying the tools and methods of the behavioral and mental sciences to the study of issues such as the structure and role of free will beliefs (FWBs) in prosocial and moral reasoning and behavior. One of these approaches involves the use of experimental manipulation of FWBs via text passages, statements, articles, and videos endorsing or refuting free will, to measure its effects on moral attitudes and behaviors such as conformity, punishment, and cheating behaviors (e.g. Alquist et al., 2013;Shariff et al., 2014;Vohs & Schooler, 2008). The present study, a videoconference-based online study developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, seeks to shed further insight into the role of FWBs in moral behavior by combining experimental manipulations of FWBs and descriptive moral norms (moral behaviors we observe in the world around us). We manipulated FWBs by randomly assigning participants to read and contemplate 15 pro- or anti-free will statements, and manipulated moral norms by pairing participants with a research confederate pretending to be a second participant but randomly assigned to behave either honestly or dishonestly in a tracing task involving unsolvable shapes, which participants were led to believe they could earn a prize for solving. Participants were also asked to complete a number of psychometric scales and single item questions for purposes of manipulation checking and exploratory analyses. Results showed that participants paired with dishonest confederates cheated more frequently than participants paired with honest confederates, and that participants in the pro-free will condition reported stronger FWBs than participants in the anti-free will condition. No main effect of FWB manipulation was observed on cheating behaviors, nor was any interaction effect observed between FWB manipulation and confederate honesty condition on cheating behaviors. These findings contribute to our understanding of the influences and limitations of FWBs, moral norms, and experimental manipulations thereof for cheating behaviors and moral behaviors in general, suggesting potential directions for future research approaches and paradigms. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)