It Is Belief in Dualism, and Not Free Will, That Best Predicts Helping: A Conceptual Replication and Extension of Baumeister et al. (2009)
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In: Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 50, No. 4, 04.2024, p. 645-656.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - It Is Belief in Dualism, and Not Free Will, That Best Predicts Helping: A Conceptual Replication and Extension of Baumeister et al. (2009)
AU - Genschow, Oliver
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2023.
PY - 2024/4
Y1 - 2024/4
N2 - Previous research found that experimentally reducing people’s belief in free will affects social behaviors. However, more recent investigations could not replicate several findings in this literature. An explanation for the mixed findings is that free will beliefs are related to social behaviors on a correlational level, but experimental manipulations are not able to detect this relation. To test this interpretation, we conceptually replicated and extended a landmark study in the free will belief literature originally conducted by Baumeister et al. In five studies (total N = 1,467), we investigated whether belief in free will predicts helping behavior in comparison to other beliefs related to free will. Overall, our results support the original findings, as belief in free will correlated with helping behavior. However, the results also show that the best predictor of helping behavior is not belief in free will but belief in dualism. Theoretical implications are discussed.
AB - Previous research found that experimentally reducing people’s belief in free will affects social behaviors. However, more recent investigations could not replicate several findings in this literature. An explanation for the mixed findings is that free will beliefs are related to social behaviors on a correlational level, but experimental manipulations are not able to detect this relation. To test this interpretation, we conceptually replicated and extended a landmark study in the free will belief literature originally conducted by Baumeister et al. In five studies (total N = 1,467), we investigated whether belief in free will predicts helping behavior in comparison to other beliefs related to free will. Overall, our results support the original findings, as belief in free will correlated with helping behavior. However, the results also show that the best predictor of helping behavior is not belief in free will but belief in dualism. Theoretical implications are discussed.
KW - belief in determinism
KW - belief in dualism
KW - free will belief
KW - helping
KW - pro-social behavior
KW - Psychology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85146635306&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/cffde451-76fe-3f45-95f0-ad612d9901f0/
U2 - 10.1177/01461672221137209
DO - 10.1177/01461672221137209
M3 - Journal articles
C2 - 36631739
AN - SCOPUS:85146635306
VL - 50
SP - 645
EP - 656
JO - Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
JF - Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
SN - 0146-1672
IS - 4
ER -