Free, connected, and meaningful: Free will beliefs promote meaningfulness through belongingness

Lost in the crowd: Conformity as escape following disbelief in free will

“…We used the effect sizes from previous literature (e.g., Moynihan et al, 2017a), and Study 2a as guidance for an appropriate sample size for Study 3a. Ninety-six participants were recruited at ProlificAcademic.co.uk for Study 3a (M age = 28.17, SD = 8.87, age range = 18-67; 39 women, 57 men).…”

“…We used the effect sizes from previous literature (e.g., Moynihan et al, 2017a), Study 2a, and Study 3a as guidance for an appropriate sample size. All participants reported acceptable English.…”

“…Again, belief in free will enhances the sense of control people experience when making decisions (Feldman et al, 2016;Stillman et al, 2011). Depriving this key aspect of human life may contribute to meaninglessness (Heine et al, 2006;Kim et al, 2014) and prevent people from achieving other sources of meaning (e.g., belongingness; Moynihan et al, 2017a). Depriving this key aspect of human life may contribute to meaninglessness (Heine et al, 2006;Kim et al, 2014) and prevent people from achieving other sources of meaning (e.g., belongingness; Moynihan et al, 2017a).…”

“…Since autonomy, afforded by free will beliefs (Baumeister et al, 2009), plays a role in optimal human functioning, deprivation of this key aspect of human life may contribute to meaninglessness (Bergner & Ramon, 2013;Heine et al, 2006;Kim, Seto, Davis, & Hicks, 2014;Seto et al, 2014). Indeed, belief in free will promotes meaning by allowing people to set meaningful goals (Crescioni et al, 2016) and achieve further sources of meaning (e.g., belongingness; Moynihan et al, 2017a).…”

“…Self-control is an important source of meaning (Heine et al, 2006;Shariff et al, 2008) because personal choice over one's outcomes, provided by free will beliefs, makes events and experiences seem meaningful (Bergner & Ramon, 2013;Seto et al, 2014). Depriving this key aspect of human life may contribute to meaninglessness (Heine et al, 2006;Kim et al, 2014) and prevent people from achieving other sources of meaning (e.g., belongingness; Moynihan et al, 2017a). Although the relationship between belief in free will and meaningfulness has been identified in previous research (Crescioni et al, 2016), we aimed to corroborate disbelief in free will's credentials as a meaning threat, considering the lack of experimental research in this area.…”