Free will and determinism

• Free will - we are self determining


  Suggests that humans are free to choose their thoughts and actions. There are still biological and environmental influences on our behaviour, but free will implies that we can reject them.

  This is the view of the humanistic approach.
• Hard determinism - also known as fatalism.

  All human action has a cause - it should be possible to identify these causes. This is compatible with the aims of science which assume that what we do is dictated by internal or external forces that we cannot control.
• Soft determinism

  All human action has a cause but people have conscious mental control over behaviour. James thought sciences should explain the determining forces acting upon us, but we still have freedom to make choices.
• Biological determinism

  Control from physiological, genetic and hormonal processes. 
• Bio determinism explanation.

  The biological approach: 

  • Physiological processes are not under conscious control (e.g. influence of the ANS on anxiety).
  • Genetic factors may determine many behaviours and characteristics, like mental disorders. 
  • Hormones may determine behaviour, like the role of testosterone in aggressive behaviour.
• Environmental determinism


  We are determined by conditioning.
• Environmental determinism explanation.

  The behavioural approach popularised this.

  • Our experience of ‘choice’ is just the sum total of reinforcement contingencies that have acted upon us throughout our lives. We might think we are acting independently, but our behaviour has been shaped by environmental events and agents of socialisation. 
• Psychic determinism = we are directed by unconscious conflicts.


  Freud’s psychic determinism sees behaviour as determined and directed by unconscious conflicts repressed in childhood.

  For example, even a seemingly random ‘slip of the tongue’ is determined by the unconscious. 
• Science seeks to find causal explanations where one thing is determined by another.


  A basic principle of science is that every event has a cause and these can be explained with general laws. Knowledge of these allow scientists to predict and control events.

  • In psychology, the lab experiment lets researchers simulate the conditions of the test tube and remove all other extraneous variables to demonstrate a causal effect.
• One strength of determinism is that it's consistent with the aims of science. 


  The notion that human behaviour is orderly and obeys laws places psychology on equal footing with other more established sciences, increasing its credibility. Another strength is that the prediction and control of human behaviour has led to the development of treatments and therapies. The experience of schizophrenia suggests some behaviours are determined as no one chooses to have a mental disorder.
• One strength of free will is that we often make choices in everyday like.

  Everyday experience 'gives the impression' that we are constantly making choices. This gives face validity to the idea of free will (i.e. it makes sense). Another strength is that, even if we don't have free will, the fact that we think we do may have a positive impact on mind and behaviour. Roberts showed that adolescents with a strong belief in fatalism were more at risk of depression.
• One limitation of free will is that it is not supported by neurological evidence. 


  Brain studies of decision making have revealed evidence against free will. Libet and Soon found that the brain activity related to the decision to press a button occurs up to ten seconds before participants report being consciously aware of making a decision. This shows that even our most basic experiences of free will are decided and determined by our brain before we become aware of them.
• One strength of free will vs. determinism is a compromise in the middle-group position.

  Approaches in psychology that have a cognitive element are those which tend to adopt a soft determinist position. Bandura argue that although environmental factors in learning are key, we are free to choose who or what we attend to and when to perform certain actions. This middle-ground approach is helpful in understanding aspects of human behaviour which are not a straightforward choice between free will and determinism (e.g. learning).