Abstract
Abstract Belief in free will or determinism is related to attitudes toward punishment and to locus of control. The relationships remain ambiguous, however, perhaps because the belief has been viewed historically as a unidimensional construct. The responses of 507 American undergraduates to a free will-determinism questionnaire established the existence of two types of deterministic belief—psychosocial and religious-philosophical—and a separate, independent belief in libertarianism. Beliefs about punishment were multidimensional, consisting of attitudes toward punitiveness and rehabilitation. Respondents with higher scores on psychosocial or religious-philosophical determinism or libertarianism were more punitive than those with lower scores. High scores on either type of determinism were associated with more external locus of control scores. Respondents who rated the free will-determinism items for themselves and those who rated them for people in general differed on a number of dependent measures.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
