Psychology 9-1 GCSE - 

7.2.1 - Vohs and Schooler (2008) The Value of Believing in Free Will: Encouraging a Belief in Determinism Increases Cheating -

Aims - 

To investigate whether inducing participants to believe that human behaviour is predetermined would encourage treating.

Procedures - 

In experiment 1: Participants read either text that encouraged a belief in determinism (i.e that behaviour is the result of environmental and genetic factors) or neutral test.

Results -

In experiment 2: Participants who read determinism text cheated by overpaying themselves for performance on a cognitive task, participants who read free will did not. Participants in the anti-free will condition reported weaker free will beliefs than the other participants in the control condition.

Conclusions - 

The more participants endorsed statements of free will, the less they paid themselves.