Are Free Will Believers Happier? Converging Evidence From Daily Life and Experimental Research

Abstract

Does it matter whether people believe in free will? Over recent decades, this question has sparked a debate across philosophy, sociology, psychology, and cognitive neuroscience. Previous research has largely overlooked how this belief relates to people’s everyday affect. To address this gap, we conducted two experience-sampling studies with participants from five European countries to examine the association between belief in free will and individuals’ daily affect (N_total = 1,381; k_total = 12,856), and one experimental study (N = 1,053). In Studies 1 and 2, stronger belief in free will was positively associated with positive affect across the day. Importantly, all effects remained after controlling for constructs related to the belief and everyday affect. Study 3 showed that exposing participants to pro- (vs. anti-) free will viewpoints increased positive affect. Our findings highlight the unique role of belief in free will in shaping daily positive affect and its wider social implications.

Keywords

belief in free will positive affect daily affect experience sampling

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