The consequences of disbelief in free will: diminished morality or enhanced conformity?

Diminished belief in free will has been shown to influence morally relevant behavior (e.g., cheating, helping) and conformity. What happens when opportunities for immoral action and conformity are both available? To investigate the relative salience of these action tendencies, we manipulated participants’ belief in free will, provided them an opportunity to cheat on a perceptual-reasoning task to obtain a reward, and exposed them to a confederate who did or did not cheat on this task. Participants primed with deterministic (vs. free will) beliefs demonstrated diminished belief in free will, and an increased tendency to cheat regardless of whether the confederate modeled cheating or not cheating. Cheating tendencies were enhanced, however, when the confederate cheated on the task. Discussion centers on the psychological effects of belief versus disbelief in free will and on the methodological challenges associated with research on free will.