Belief in control: Voluntary choice enhances subsequent task performance under undefeated choice-outcome causation

Abstract

Humans have volition through which they act upon and change the external environment. As an exercise of volition, making a voluntary choice facilitates subsequent behavioral performance relative to making a forced choice. However, it is unclear how this facilitation is constrained by the perceived relationship between a choice and its outcome. In a series of experiments, participants were free or forced to choose one of two presented pictures. The outcome of the choice was then revealed, which could be: always the chosen picture or always the unchosen picture (i.e., confirmed choice-outcome causation), a blank screen with no picture at all (i.e., unrevealed choice-outcome relation), the chosen or unchosen picture with equal probability (i.e., defeated choice-outcome causation), or a third picture different from the two preceding options (again, defeated choice-outcome causation). Participants then complete a visual search task with the task-irrelevant picture (or the blank screen) serving as a background. Results showed that search performance was improved after a voluntary choice under both confirmed causation and unrevealed relation, but not under defeated causation. Over individuals, the improved performance due to voluntary choice under confirmed causation positively correlated with the improved performance under unrevealed relation, and with reported belief in controlling the outcome of the choice. Our findings suggest that the exercise of volition motivates subsequent behavior, and this motivation is restricted to “undefeated” choice-outcome causation which affords a belief in controlling the outcome by exerting volition.