Free will/determinism

• What is free will?


  Idea that we play an active role and have choice in how we behave. The assumption is that individuals are free to choose their behaviour and are self-determined.

  • A belief in free will does not deny that there is biological and environmental forces that influence behaviour, but that we have the ability to reject these forces if we are in control.
• Example of free will- Humanistic approach


  Roger’s approach to therapy illustrates his belief in free will because he thinks that the client should discover their own solutions to their problems therefore making their own choices on how to grow and develop as an individual.
• What is determinism?

  • The view that free will is an illusion and that our behaviour is governed by internal and external forces over which we have no control
• What is the free-will determinism debate?

  Refers to what extent our behaviour is a matter of free will or whether we are a product of a set of internal and/or external influences that determine who we are and what we do.
• Hard-determinism

  • The view that internal and external forces outside of our control (e.g biological makeup/past experience) shape our behaviour.
  • Hard determinism is incompatible with free will
  • Human behaviour has a cause, so it should be possible to identify and describe these causes.
• Soft determinism


  The view that behaviour is constrained by the environment or our biological makeup but only to a certain extent and that there is an element of free will in all behaviour.
• Biological determinism

  • The belief that behaviour is caused by biological (genetic, hormonal, evolutionary) influences that we cannot control.
  • Many of our physiological and neurological processes are not under conscious control- influence of autonomic nervous system during periods of stress and anxiety.
• Environmental determinism

  • A belief that behaviour is caused by features of the environment e.G systems of reward and punishment that we cannot control.
  • Skinner argued free will is an illusion and all behaviour is due t conditioning.
  • We might think we are acting independently but our behaviour is shaped by our environmental events and other people
• Example of environmental determinism

  • Phobias in psychopathogy
  • The behaviourist approach suggests that phobias are acquired through classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning therefore phobias are environmentally determined
• Psychic determinism

  • Belief that behaviour is caused by childhood experiences and unconscious conflict that we cannot control.
  • Human behaviour is determined by unconscious conflicts repressed in childhood
  • There Is no such thing as accidents or parapraxes according to Freud and can be explained by underlying authority of the unconscious.
• Example of psychic determinism- Psychodynamic approach

  • Gender behaviours are acquired during the phallic stage of development through the resolution of Oedipus complex and electra complex
  • Where children identify with the same sex parent
• What is the scientific emphasis on causal explanations?

  • Basic principle in science: every event in the universe had a cause and that can be explained using general laws
  • Knowledge of causes and the formulation of laws are important as they allow scientists to predict and control events in the future.
  • In psychology that laboratory experiment enables researchers to stimulate the conditions of the test and remove all other extraneous variables in an attempt to precisely control and predict human behaviour.
• Practical value of free will

  • Robert’s et al looked at adolescents who had a strong belief in fatalism were at a greater risk of developing depression.
  • The findings suggests that people who have an internal locus of control, believing that they have a high degree of influence over events and their behaviour, tend to be more mentally healthy.
  • This suggests that the idea of having free will has a positive impact on mind and behaviour.
• Brain scanning evidence favours determinism

  • Libet et al, told participants to pick a random moment to flick their wrist while he measured brain activity. Participants had to say when they had the conscious will to move. Results found that unconscious brain activity leading up to the conscious decision to move came around half a second before the participant consciously felt they had to move.
  • This shows actions are determined by the brain before we are even aware of them.
  • Suggests our responses are biologically determined.
• Research evidence counterpoint

  • Just because the action comes before the conscious awareness of the decision to act, doesn’t mean that there was no decision to act.
  • It could be the case it took time for the decision to reach consciousness
  • This evidence may not be appropriate to challenge free will.
• Law influences

  • If behaviour is determined by outside forces, this could provide an excuse for criminal acts. Stephen Mobley argued that he was born to kill, after killing a pizza shop manager because his family has a predisposition towards violence and aggressive behaviour.
  • In the court of law, offenders are held responsible for their actions. The main principle of our legal system is that the defendant exercised their free will in committing the crime.
  • Therefore a truly determinist position may be undesirable as it provides an excuse allowing people to mitigate their own liability.
• Determinist approaches have helped establish psychology as a science

  • Hard determinist approach has produced real life applications like drug treatments, therapies and behavioural interventions.
  • However most of us see ourself as making our own choices rather than being controlled by internal/external forces. Free will may also be liberating for some people in terms of not accepting ones fate- if they come from a criminal background.
  • Therefore if psychology wants to position itself alongside the natural sciences, determinist accounts are likely to be preferred.
• Example of biological determinism

  Biological psychologists use drug treatments that directly influence the functioning of biological processes in their treatment of mental health disorders.
• Examples of environmental determinism

  • Behaviourists are usually considered hard environmental determinists as they do not include conscious thought processes in their theories, instead they suggest behaviour can be fully explained as a series of stimulus response links.
  • Social learning theorists are also environmental determinists as they accept many of the principles of behaviourist, also learning vicariously is learning from experience. However the addition of cognitive internal mental processes that mediate between stimulus and response means social learning theorists are often soft determinants.
• Example of psychic determinism

  • Freud believed that innate drives shaped by childhood experiences form unconscious forces that determine behaviour.
  • E.g conflicts among the ID, Ego and Superego, fixations during the psychosexual development stages and defence mechanisms used by the unconscious mind control behaviour.