My free will is your destiny

By Kate Shaw

How much control do you have over your own life? Can you effectively choose between several different paths, or is the course of your life set by your circumstances? What about the guy next to you—would you answer the same way about him? You wouldn't, according to two Princeton researchers. The results of their study, published in PNAS last week, show that people believe they have more free will than their peers do.

In a classical sense, the term "free will" refers to the concept that people have control over their decisions. Their actions cannot be predicted a priori, they have the ability to choose between multiple options, and their behavior is determined by their personal beliefs and goals rather than their circumstances or their personality.  

In the first part of the experiment, 50 Princeton undergrads were asked to rate how predictable their life decisions have been (such as the failure of an past relationship or their future career paths), rating them on a scale of 1 to 7. They were then asked the same questions about their roommates' decisions. The participants rated their own decisions, both past and future, as far less predictable than their roommates' choices.

The undergrads were then asked what contributes to a decision, such as what to do on a Saturday night. Most participants responded that that their personal desires and intentions play the largest role in their choice; meanwhile, they thought that other factors, such as personality and past history, drive their peers' decisions. They also believed that they had more options to choose from in life than do other people they know.

To make sure that these results weren’t driven by elite Ivy Leaguers' delusions of perfection and grandeur, the researchers performed similar studies with workers at local restaurants. These results suggested the same trend as those from the undergrad experiments: the workers believed that they had more choices and that their lives were less predetermined than those of their peers in the same situation.

Since ancient times, people have argued over whether or not the course of peoples' lives is predetermined. While this study certainly won't provide the answer, it does contribute an interesting personal aspect to the argument. The authors suggest that we may believe we are more in control of our own lives because we are privy to our own internal debate and constant introspection, while we are only aware of other people's actions and decisions in a particular moment and context.