Universität zu Köln

Genschow, Oliver ORCID: 0000-0001-6322-4392, Rigoni, Davide and Brass, Marcel (2019). The hand of God or the hand of Maradona? Believing in free will increases perceived intentionality of others' behavior. Conscious. Cogn., 70. S. 80 - 88. SAN DIEGO: ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE. ISSN 1090-2376

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

The question of whether free will actually exists has been debated in philosophy for centuries. However, how belief in free will shapes the perception of our social environment still remains open. Here we investigate whether belief in free will affects how much intentionality we attribute to other people. Study 1a and 1b demonstrate a weak positive relation between the strength of belief in free will and the perceived intentionality of soccer players committing handball. This pattern even holds for behavior that is objectively not intentional (i.e., when the player touches the ball accidentally). Going one step further, in Study 2 we find a weak correlation between belief in free will and perceiving intentions in very abstract geometrical shapes. These findings suggest that whether individuals believe in free will or not changes the way they interpret others' behavior, which may have important societal consequences.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Genschow, Oliver UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0001-6322-4392 UNSPECIFIED Rigoni, Davide UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Brass, Marcel UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-152239
DOI:	10.1016/j.concog.2019.02.004
Journal or Publication Title:	Conscious. Cogn.
Volume:	70
Page Range:	S. 80 - 88
Date:	2019
Publisher:	ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
Place of Publication:	SAN DIEGO
ISSN:	1090-2376
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Human Sciences Faculty of Management, Economy and Social Sciences
Divisions:	Faculty of Human Sciences > Department Psychologie Center of Excellence C-SEB
Subjects:	Psychology
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language WEAKENING BELIEF; DISBELIEF; PREDICTS; AGENCY; TIME Multiple languages Psychology, Experimental Multiple languages
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/15223